Z skin incision in reduced-port surgery for colorectal cancer

Laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) has recently gained in popularity due to the fewer trocars and shorter incision, leading to reduced wound pain and improved cosmetic outcome. In July, 2013, reduced-port surgery (RPS) was introduced and has been performed thereafter in our hospital. An umbilical incision is used for a main port in RPS, through which the specimen is removed and the anastomosis is performed. In order to make the incision shorter, we introduced the Z skin incision in RPS. In this study, we aimed to discuss this method and evaluate the short-term outcome. Among CRC patients undergoing RPS, Z skin incision (n=14) was compared to conventional skin incision (n=15). The clinical and surgical factors were evaluated and there were no significant differences in terms of gender, age, body mass index, tumor site, procedure, operative time, blood loss or complications between the two groups. The median incision length at the umbilicus was significantly shorter in the Z incision group (P=0.004). Particularly in functional end-to-end anastomosis, the median incision length was 2.5 cm in the Z skin incision group and 4.0 cm in the conventional incision group (P=0.018). In conclusion, Z skin incision is a useful technique for achieving an effective length of skin incision in RPS for CRC.