Less-Invasive Laparoscopic Colectomy Seen as Safe Alternative

French researchers report encouraging data for the use of less-invasive laparoscopic surgery to treat patients with cancer in the left-hand side of the colon.

The researchers said that of 206 patients who were operated on laparoscopically between March 1992 and December 2000, only 22 patients required coversion to the far more commonly used open surgery.

They reported in the journal Surgical Endoscopy that overall operative mortality (1 month) was 1 percent and the rate of surgical and medical complications was 12 percent.

They said the five-year survival rate was 85 percent for patients with node negative tumors confined to the bowel wall), 61 percent for stage III and 8 percent for stage IV.

"Laparoscopic colectomy for cancer seems to be a safe procedure," the researchers concluded. "The long-term results are comparable to those of open surgery."

Other Sources:Surgical Endoscopy