Management of intraoperative complications during laparoscopic right colectomy

Minimally invasive right colectomy is increasingly performed as standard treatment for diseases of right colon. Complete mesocolic excision has been introduced for cancer treatment to improve oncological results. Both standard and complete mesocolic excision techniques are associated with intraoperative complications. The purpose of this study was to analyze incidence and management of intraoperative complications in patients who underwent laparoscopic right colectomy with complete mesocolic excision in a single institution.

This is a retrospective study conducted in a single Italian Center from April 2017 to October 2020. Data of non-metastatic cancer patients who underwent laparoscopic right colectomy were collected to analyze onset of intraoperative complications, their management and rate of conversion to open surgery.

A total of 92 patients were included in this study. The 1.09% of patients were converted to open surgery due to adhesions and bowel occlusion. The 5.43% of patients had intraoperative complications: bleeding from Henle's trunk, prepancreatic plane and ileocolic artery stump account for 3.26%, gonadal vessel injury for 1.09% and bowel lesion for 1.09%.

Despite the limits of this study, it showed that bleeding is one of the most frequent complications in laparoscopic right colectomy. Bleeding, occlusion and adhesions are most common reasons for conversion to open surgery.