title: Current status of hand-assisted laparoscopic colorectal surgery: a review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hand-assisted laparoscopic colorectal surgery has continued to develop since the mid-1990s. There have been a number of publications regarding its use and efficacy as a technique. We studied these reports to assess the current status of hand-assisted laparoscopic colorectal surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched for articles on hand-assisted laparoscopic colorectal surgery archived in MEDLINE, PubMed, and the Cochrane database of systematic reviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a total of 36 papers. These included nine descriptive studies, three nonrandomized trials, and four randomized trials.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most authors found hand-assisted laparoscopic colorectal surgery to be a very useful and promising technique. Suitable hand-insertion ports and laparoscopic instruments are crucial. Controlled trials demonstrate that the early benefits of the laparoscopic approach are realized and there may be a shorter learning curve.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, City Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Mohd
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.forename: Satish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhalerao
mesh_terms: D003082:Colectomy / Q000379:methods*; D003106:Colon / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D012007:Rectum / Q000601:surgery