Short-term outcomes following reduced-port, single-port, and multi-port laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer: tailored laparoscopic approaches based on tumor size and nodal status

Surgeons have recently developed more minimally invasive surgical procedures to reduce surgical stress and improve cosmesis. Although single-port laparoscopic colectomy (SPLC) has potential benefits over multi-port laparoscopic colectomy (MPLC), there are concerns about the increased technical difficulties associated with SPLC. Therefore, we attempted reduced-port laparoscopic colectomy (RPLC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference in perioperative outcome following tailored laparoscopic approaches for colon cancer on the basis of tumor characteristics. The prospectively collected data of 170 patients who underwent only minimally invasive colectomy for colon cancer from July 2010 to June 2013 were reviewed. The MPLC, SPLC, and RPLC groups comprised 92 (54.1 %), 40 (23.5 %), and 38 (22.4 %) patients, respectively. The number of harvested lymph nodes was significantly higher in the RPLC group than in the MPLC and SPLC groups (29.9 +/- 21.5, 21.9 +/- 12.1, and 24.2 +/- 13.8, respectively; p = 0.027). The mean operating time was significantly different among the MPLC, SPLC, and RPLC groups (243.5 +/- 59.0, 207.2 +/- 49.6, and 216.2 +/- 53.7 min, respectively; p = 0.001). The time to first flatus was also significantly different among the MPLC, SPLC, and RPLC groups (3.1 +/- 1.2, 3.6 +/- 1.3, and 3.4 +/- 1.1 days, respectively; p = 0.039). No significant differences in the other short-term surgical outcomes were observed among the three groups. SPLC and RPLC according to tailored laparoscopic approaches for colon cancer appear to be beneficial in terms of operative time and lymph node retrieval, and may be considered as surgical options in laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer patients with favorable tumor characteristics.