title: Short-term Outcomes of a Laparoscopic Left Hemicolectomy for Descending Colon Cancer: Retrospective Comparison with an Open Left Hemicolectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many randomized clinical trials have been performed to treat a colorectal neoplasm with the exclusion of descending colon cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the difference in surgical outcomes between a laparoscopic left hemicolectomy and a conventional open left hemicolectomy for descending colon cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of ninety patients with descending colon cancer, who underwent a laparoscopic (LAP) or open left hemicolectomy (OS) between May 1998 and December 2009 at Kyungpook National University Hospital, was performed. Clinicopathological and surgical outcomes were compared between the LAP and the OS for descending colon cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The baseline characteristics, including age, gender, body mass index, history of prior abdominal surgical history and tumor location, were similar between the two groups. The mean operation time was 156.2 minutes for the LAP group and 223.2 minutes for the OS group (P < 0.001). Intraoperative blood loss was significantly greater in the OS group (37.5 mL vs. 80.4 mL; P = 0.039). The postoperative recovery in the LAP group was faster, as reflected by the shorter time to pass gas and the shorter hospital stay. Pathological examinations showed the surgery to be equally radical in the two groups. The median follow-up was 21 months and there were 3 distant metastases (8.5%) during follow-up in the LAP group, but no port-site or local recurrence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A laparoscopic left hemicolectomy is a technically safe and feasible procedure for treating descending colon cancer. Prospective multi-center trials are necessary to establish the LAP as the standard treatment for descending colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Kil-Su
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Gyu-Seog
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jun-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hye Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soo Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Soo-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jun