Risk of missing colorectal cancer during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

The increased number of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is associated with a risk of missing concomitant colorectal cancers; however, the incidence and cause have not yet been well recognized. Our aim, therefore, was to evaluate these factors.

This retrospective study evaluated data on 473 patients with benign gallbladder diseases, who underwent LC between January 1991 and December 1999. Among these 473 patients, 2 (0.4%) were thought to have had detectable cancer at LC.

The first patient was a 59-year-old woman who underwent palliative resection for ascending colon cancer associated with liver and pulmonary metastases 10 months following LC when laboratory data showed a low hemoglobin level (10.0 g/dl). The other patient, a 50-year-old man, underwent resection for Dukes' C sigmoid colon cancer 6 months following LC. At LC, the patient did not present with any symptoms suggesting the existence of colorectal cancer and the laboratory data were normal.

These results indicate that although an extremely low incidence of missed colorectal cancers does not justify routine screening for colorectal cancer before LC in terms of cost-effectiveness, careful attention to preoperative physical findings and laboratory data as well as meticulous techniques and full diagnostic visualization of the large-bowel intraoperatively may reduce the potential risk of missing coexisting colorectal cancers during LC.