title: Initial experience of single-port laparoscopic surgery for sigmoid colon cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Single-port laparoscopic surgery has attracted attention in the field of minimally invasive colorectal surgery. We hypothesized that an experienced laparoscopic surgeon could perform single-port surgery for colon cancer eligible for conventional laparoscopic anterior resection. Our aim was to analyze our initial experience and immediate surgical outcomes of single-port anterior resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 37 consecutive patients with presumed sigmoid colonic cancer underwent single-port anterior resection with standard laparoscopic instruments between May 2009 and June 2010. Each operation was performed by one of two experienced colorectal surgeons. A cohort of patients who had undergone conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for the same duration a year earlier (August 2007 to September 2008) was used as a historical control. Patient demographics and perioperative outcomes were analyzed and compared with those of CLS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in mean estimated blood loss, mean length of the resection margin, or morbidity between the two groups, but operative time for the single-port group was significantly shorter (118 ± 41 vs. 140 ± 42 min; p = 0.017). Single-port laparoscopic surgery was successfully performed in 78.4% (29/37) of the patients treated in 2010, and CLS was successfully completed in all of the patients treated the previous year (p = 0.000). The main causes of single-port surgery failure were adhesion and tumor location.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Single-port anterior resection is a feasible and safe procedure with immediate outcomes comparable to those of conventional laparoscopy. Further studies are required to determine the feasibility of single-port surgery for colonic tumors outside the sigmoid colon and the long-term outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea. gsdrpark@naver.com
authors.forename: Sun Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kil Yeon
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung Mo
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Sung Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Suk Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012811:Sigmoid Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D020694:Sigmoidoscopes; D012812:Sigmoidoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome