Complete mesocolic excision: Techniques and outcomes

Complete mesocolic excision (CME) for the treatment of colon cancer was first introduced in the West in 2008. The first aim of this procedure is to remove the afflicted colon and its accessory lymphovascular supply by resecting the colon and mesocolon in an intact envelope of visceral peritoneum, which holds potentially involved lymph nodes. The second component of CME is a central vascular tie to remove completely all lymph nodes in the central (vertical) direction. In its original iteration, CME was performed via laparotomy, although many centers preferentially perform laparoscopic surgery, with its associated benefits and similar oncological outcomes, as the standard treatment for colonic cancer. Here, we present the surgical techniques for CME in open and laparoscopic surgery, as well as the surgical, pathological and oncological outcomes of the procedure that are available to date. Because there are no randomized control trials comparing CME to standard colon surgery, the principles underlying CME seem anatomical and logical, and the results published from the Far East, reporting an 80% 5-year survival rate for Stage III cancer, should guide us.