Background: Benign colonic polyps that are impossible to remove with the aid of the flexible colonoscope because of their size or location must be removed surgically.
Methods: Twenty patients with colonic adenomatous polyps that could not be resected by colonoscopy because of size or difficult location (n = 18) or polyps in combination with diverticulitis (n = 2) underwent polyp removal through a small 'assisted' incision in the abdominal wall using a standard 'dissection-facilitated' laparoscopic approach to the affected colonic segment.
Results: In six patients the polyp was removed through a colotomy, in three through a limited resection (two ileocaecal and one limited sigmoid resection) and in 11 through a standard colectomy (four right hemicolectomy, one left hemicolectomy, four sigmoid and two anterior resections) because of suspicion of cancer. In only one patient could the polyp not be found during laparoscopy, resulting in a second conventional surgical intervention. In four patients carcinoma was diagnosed in the specimen.
Conclusion: Precise preoperative localization of the polyp and the use of dissection-facilitated laparoscopic colonic surgery make laparoscopic removal of benign colonic polyps an alternative to an open procedure.