Modified cranial approach to right-sided colon cancer in a patient with intestinal nonrotation: A case report

Managing colon cancer with intestinal nonrotation, a type of congenital intestinal malrotation, is challenging due to the presence of anatomical abnormalities and severe adhesions. When patients have nonrotation, it is markedly more difficult to determine which vessels correspond to the colic vessels and ileal vessels until all vascular branching patterns become evident. The optimal approach for right-sided colon cancer with intestinal nonrotation has yet to be established. In the present case of ascending colon cancer with intestinal nonrotation, we performed laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with D3 dissection using a modified cranial approach. This approach involves tracing, without resecting, branches from the superior mesenteric vein and superior mesenteric artery in a cranial-to-caudal manner until the ileocolic artery and ileocolic vein, which course toward the cecum, are identified, followed by the dissection of the colic vessels and lymph nodes in a caudal-to-cranial fashion.