title: Outcome of laparoscopic colorectal resection.
abstract: It has been nearly two decades since the first laparoscopic colectomy was reported. However, the wide application of the procedure in various colorectal diseases, particularly colorectal malignancy, has been slow. With the recent reports ofoncological outcomes from randomised controlled trials, the oncological safety of laparoscopic colectomy has been proven and the long-term outcome is at least not inferior to open resection. The application of laparoscopic resection should not be regarded as a contraindication against management of colon cancer, but instead it appears the preferred treatment when the short-term benefits are considered. Regarding rectal cancer, the CLASICC (Conventional versus Laparoscopic-Assisted Surgery in Colorectal Cancer) trial showed equal oncological outcome in patients who underwent laparoscopic and open resection for rectal cancer in a randomised trial. The application of laparoscopic resection for rectal cancer should be accepted, though cautions are still needed to scrutinise more data from high quality studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: D K H
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: J K M
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Law
mesh_terms: D003082:Colectomy / Q000379:methods*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome