Laparoscopic colon surgery: report of a series

A multicenter retrospective study was performed of laparoscopic colon surgery. Thirty unselected patients underwent a variety of procedures including right hemicolectomy (11), sigmoid and left colectomy (7), takedown of sigmoid colostomies (8), low anterior resection (2), AP resection (1), and colotomy (1). The conversion rate from laparoscopic to open was 10 per cent. Comparisons were made between this group and institutional controls for cost and lymph node harvest. Operating technique is discussed. Lymph node harvest was comparable with open procedures. Postoperative length of stay averaged 8.3 days. Hospital costs were $11,010 compared with an institutional norm of $13,050. Major variations in costs were between institutions rather than surgeons or techniques and correlated as well with postoperative length of stay. An anatomically equivalent oncologic resection was able to be performed with an acceptable morbidity (24%) and mortality (0%).