Background: Laparoscopic colectomy allows oncologic resection equivalent to open colectomy while reducing postoperative morbidity, at the cost of longer operating time. Hand-assisted laparoscopy might yield the benefits of laparoscopy while reducing operating time.
Patients and methods: We compared the intraoperative and postoperative experience of patients undergoing hand-assisted laparoscopic colectomy (HALC) to those who had open colectomy. In this retrospective case review of consecutive patients undergoing HALC for colon tumors from April 2003 to September 2004 compared with patients who had open colectomy, patients with rectal cancer and stage IV disease were excluded, and reported variables were compared by the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test; all P values are 2-tailed.
Results: The number of patients with HALC versus open colectomy was 39 and 55, respectively. The locations of tumors were as follows: right colon, 62% versus 56%; left colon, 2.5% versus 11%; sigmoid colon, 31% versus 33%; and rectosigmoid colon, 5% versus 0. Stage distribution was as follows: stage 0, 23% versus 11%; stage I, 23% versus 23%; stage II, 31% versus 36%; and stage III, 23% versus 31%. Median operating room time was 139 minutes versus 137 minutes (P = 0.94). Four 39 (10%) HALC procedures were converted to open colectomy. Duration of hospitalization was 6 days versus 10 days (P = 0.007). Median number of lymph nodes in resection specimen was 12 versus 9 (P = 0.043). There were 3 cases of serious postoperative infection in the HALC group versus 9 in the open colectomy cohort.
Conclusion: Hand-assisted laparoscopic colectomy is technically feasible in the nontertiary care setting, with duration of surgery equivalent to that of open colectomy but significantly shorter duration of hospitalization and equivalent or superior quality resection and pathologic staging.