title: Short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic surgery vs open surgery for transverse colon cancer: a retrospective multicenter study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the present study was to compare the perioperative and oncologic outcomes between laparoscopic surgery and open surgery for transverse colon cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective review of patients who underwent surgery for transverse colon cancer at six Hallym University-affiliated hospitals between January 2005 and June 2015. The perioperative outcomes and oncologic outcomes were compared between laparoscopic and open surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 226 patients with transverse colon cancer, 103 underwent laparoscopic surgery and 123 underwent open surgery. There were no differences in the patient characteristics between the two groups. Regarding perioperative outcomes, the operation time was significantly longer in the laparoscopic group than in the open group (267.3 vs 172.7 minutes, P<0.001), but the time to soft food intake (6.0 vs 6.6 days, P=0.036) and the postoperative hospital stay (13.7 vs 15.7 days, P=0.018) were shorter in the laparoscopic group. The number of harvested lymph nodes was lower in the laparoscopic group than in the open group (20.3 vs 24.3, P<0.001). The 5-year overall survival (90.8% vs 88.6%, P=0.540) and disease-free survival (86.1% vs 78.9%, P=0.201) rates were similar in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study showed that laparoscopic surgery is associated with several perioperative benefits and similar oncologic outcomes to open surgery for the resection of transverse colon cancer. Therefore, laparoscopic surgery offers a safe alternative to open surgery in patients with transverse colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Hwaseong Si, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Wan
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Hwaseong Si, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon Si, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Mo
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hallym Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Anyang Si, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bong Hwa
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Chun
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: colon cancer; laparoscopic surgery; transverse colon