Laparoscopic colectomy vs. open colectomy for sigmoid diverticular disease

The feasibility of laparoscopic colectomy for colon surgery has now been well established. Most of the studies on laparoscopic colectomies include all types of colonic pathologies without discrimination. Our goal was to compare laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy open sigmoid colectomy for simple sigmoid diverticular disease, to assess whether it can be done safely and whether the proposed advantages could be realized.

We evaluated the differences in outcomes of 66 laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy patients and 88 open sigmoid colectomy patients. We report a five-year outcomes analysis of 154 patients undergoing sigmoid colectomy for diverticular disease. We compared age, gender, history of prior abdominal surgery, estimated blood loss, operative time, total conversions with reason for conversion, time until a liquid diet was started, postoperative complications, hospital length of stay, operation costs, and total hospital charges incurred for both laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy and open sigmoid colectomy.

Mean age and gender were similar in the two groups. However, the mean estimated blood loss (143 ml 314 ml), time until a liquid diet was started (2.9 4.9 days), and hospital length of stay (4.8 8.8 days) were all significantly less in laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy patients. The mean operative time for laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy was 212 minutes as compared with 143 minutes for open sigmoid colectomy ( < 0.05). Conversion rate of laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy to open procedure was 19.7 percent. All laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy patients received a lighted ureteral stent preoperatively, which was removed at the end of surgery. Relevant complications for laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy open sigmoid colectomy were as follows: anastomotic leak in 1 3 (1.5 3.4 percent) patients, hematuria in 64 6 (97 6.8 percent) patients, with an average duration for 2.93 3 days, urinary tract infection in 5 4 (7.6 4.5 percent) patients, and ureteral injury in 1 2 (1.5 2.2 percent) patients. Although the mean operating room charges were greater in the laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy patients ($9,566 $7,306) the mean hospital charges ($13,953 $14,863) were less.

We recommend laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy as the modality of treatment for diverticular disease. Laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy seems to be a reliable, safe and efficacious treatment modality with better outcomes for diverticular disease of the sigmoid colon. The operative time for laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy is decreasing as surgeons gain more experience.