Background: Transumbilical single-port surgery has been developed with the aim to further reduce the invasiveness of conventional laparoscopy.
Objective: This study aimed to report our experience with 31 patients who were treated with transumbilical single-incision laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer.
Design: This is a retrospective review of prospectively gathered data.
Settings: This study was conducted at the Department of Surgery of Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital between April 2009 and April 2010. Data were obtained from a prospectively maintained single-institution laparoscopic colon cancer database.
Patients: Thirty-one consecutively selected patients (mean BMI, 22.5 ± 2.3) were evaluated.
Interventions: All patients underwent single-incision laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer. Two different approaches were used for single-incision laparoscopic colectomy: the trocar insertion method and the SILS port method. The trocar insertion method was adopted in 22 of 31 patients, and the SILS port method was used in 9 patients.
Main outcome measures: The main measures of outcomes were intraoperative findings, postoperative course, and oncological outcomes.
Results: The most common procedure was sigmoid colon resection performed in 12 of 31 (39%) patients. The mean skin incision was 2.72 ± 0.79 (range, 3-5) cm. The operating time ranged from 101 to 263 (mean, 156 ± 45) minutes. The volume of bleeding ranged from 5 to 60 (mean, 27 ± 19) mL. No intraoperative complications were observed in this series. Postoperatively, there was no mortality. Wound infection was observed in 1 patient. The number of harvested lymph nodes was 18 ± 2.1, and the mean tumor-free resection margin was 11 ± 4.8 cm.
Conclusion: Our experience indicates that single-incision laparoscopic colectomy is feasible for selected patients with colon cancer.