• patients within 18--75 years old;

• patients with a preoperative pathological diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma;

• patients with a clinical tumor stage of T1N1,T2N0 according to the preoperative examinations (gastroscopy, ultrasound gastroscopy and computed tomography);

• patients with a plan to undergo laparoscopic distal gastrectomy and obtain R0 surgical results;

• patients without severe heart, liver, lung, or kidney dysfunction;

• patients with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0-1; and (7) patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-II.