Hand-assisted total colectomy: a safe alternative

• Published in: European surgery 2009-06, Vol.41 (3), p.109-115
• Main Authors: Santos, M. D., Silva, D., Nogueira, C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdominal Surgery; Cardiac Surgery; General Surgery; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Scientific Paper; Surgery; Vascular Surgery
• ISSN: 1682-8631; 1682-4016
• DOI: 10.1007/s10353-009-0464-y

Summary BACKGROUND: Our Department has been performing laparoscopic surgery for colorectal disease since 1998. More recently, we have introduced hand-assisted procedures in selected patients. The purpose of this study is to analyze our results with hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery in total colectomy. METHODS: A consecutive series of patients undergoing hand-assisted laparoscopic total colectomy were analyzed from prospectively collected data from October 2003 to October 2008. All the procedures were performed by a single surgeon. Twenty one patients underwent hand-assisted total colectomies: nine females and twelve females, with mean age of 43.6 years (range 17–72). Indications included: attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis (15), colon cancer in Lynch syndrome (5) and colonic inertia (1). Six patients had prior abdominal surgery. Results regarding time of operation and post-operative hospital stay were then compared against data from open and regular laparoscopic surgery occurred at same period. The Kruskal–Wallis test with a significance level of 0.05 was adopted. RESULTS: HALS median surgery time was decreased by 110 min (range 210–320; p