history of previous open abdominal surgery adversely affects the number of retrieved lymph nodes and increases the length of hospital stay after subsequent laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of the previous open gastric surgery (POGS) for laparoscopic gastric cancer surgery (LGCS). We retrospectively examined the medical records of 150 gastric cancer patients who had adenocarcinoma and were operated laparoscopically. Patients were divided into two groups according to the history of POGS as POGS group (n=5) and none-POGS group (n=145). The laboratory parameters, clinical and operative data were assessed between the groups. The preoperative data were similar in both groups, except for tumor location. The length of hospital stay was longer, the number of excised and positive lymph nodes were lower in the POGS group (p=0.023, p=0.016, and p=0.045, respectively). The operation time was longer in the POGS group, although this difference was not significant [300 min (120-720 min) to 390 min (360-430 min), p=0.057]. POGS in patients with POGS can be performed safely with similar perioperative outcomes compared to the patients with none-POGS. POGS may prolong the hospital stay. In addition, the number of excised lymph nodes may be lower. Nevertheless, POGS should not be regarded as a contraindication for LGCS.