Quality of life after laparoscopic or open colonic resection for cancer

Although laparoscopic colectomy has been widely accepted, little is known about the subjective clinical results of this less invasive surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of patients who had undergone laparoscopic or open colonic resection for cancer.

The study included 26 patients with laparoscopic colectomy and 87 with conventional open colectomy for cure of colon cancer. Body temperature, serum C-reactive protein and albumin levels, lymphocyte count, and weight loss during hospital stay were compared between the two groups. Quality of life was estimated by the 9-item questionnaire with scoring system of 1 (high), 2 (fair), and 3 (low).

Laparoscopic colectomy was significantly different from open colectomy with regard to the body temperature (37.8 degrees C vs. 38.0 degrees C, p < 0.01) and C-reactive protein level (6.34 mg/dL vs. 11.15 mg/dL, p < 0.01) on postoperative day 1, albumin level (3.54 g/dL vs. 3.36 g/dL, p < 0.05) and lymphocyte count (1354/mm3 vs. 995/mm3, p < 0.01) on postoperative day 7, and weight loss on postoperative day 14 (3.95% vs. 5.45%, p < 0.01). Although all patients with laparoscopic colectomy were satisfied with their surgical results, total score of the quality-of-life questionnaire was not significantly different between the two groups (10.95 vs. 11.81). Both laparoscopic and open colonic resections were similarly accepted by the patients as a good operation that they would recommend to others (1.105 vs. 1.206).

These results indicate that although laparoscopic colonic resection for cancer was less invasive than conventional open colectomy, both laparoscopic and open colonic resections were favorably accepted by the patients, and quality of life after operation was not significantly different between the two procedures.