Implementation of laparoscopic approach in colorectal cancer surgery — a single center’s experience

Objective : to evaluate complication rate, surgical operation time, mortality rate implementing minimally invasive surgical technique in colon and rectal surgery — a single cancer’s center experience. Matherials and methods . 124 patients underwent surgery in the period from 2016 to 2018 using laparoscopic technique for colorectal cancer. All patients were divided on 3 equal groups, depending on the time required to master laparoscopic technique: group A (1—40 procedure), group B (41—80 procedure) and group C (81—124 procedure). Outcome measures included operation time, mortality rate, readmission and postoperative complication rates, number of lymph nodes removed and time of impatient care. Results . Main outcome variables (operation time, number lymph nodes removed, time of impatient care, mortality rates, postoperative complication rates) reach a plateau in the learning curve after 54 operation. The study showed that the incidence of postoperative complications in all groups was 11.4 %, while the significantly high level of complications was in group A — 17.5 % (p = 0.023). Postoperative mortality in groups A and B was 2.5 % and 2.5 %, respectively. Conclusion . It is shown that the introduction of minimally invasive technologies into colorectal cancer surgery is relatively safe and possible under the given conditions, while the time of mastering the technique is comparable with the data available in the literature.