Effects of fast-track surgery on perioperative indicators and postoperative recovery of patients undergoing laparoscopic radical resection of colon cancer

Objective: To explore the application value of fast-track surgery (FTS) in laparoscopic radical resection of colon cancer. Methods: A total of 200 patients who underwent laparoscopic radical resection of colon cancer were randomly divided into the observation group and control group, with 100 cases in each group. Patients in the observation group received laparoscopic radical resection in the FTS procedure, while those in the control group were treated with conventional laparoscopic radical resection. The differences of perioperative indicators (operation time, intraoperative blood loss, number of lymph node dissection and the length of stay) and postoperative gastrointestinal recovery (fasting time, postoperative first anal exhaust time, postoperative first defecation time and postoperative first semi-liquid feeding time) were compared between the two groups. In addition, nutritional indicators transferin (TRF), prealbumin (PAB) and albumin (ALB), and inflammatory factors (C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT)) were compared 1 week after operation. Results: No significant difference was observed in terms of operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and lymph node dissection between the two groups (P>0.05), while the length of stay of the observation group was significantly shorter than that of the control group (t=11.363, P<0.001). The fasting time, the first anal exhaust time, the first defecation time and the first semi-liquid feeding time after operation in the observation group were significantly shorter than those in the control group (P<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in preoperative TRF, PAB and ALB levels between the two groups (P>0.05). The TRF level in the observation group was significantly increased while the PAB and ALB levels were markedly decreased after operation (P<0.001). And the TRF, PAB and ALB levels in the control group were markedly decreased after operation (P<0.001). The postoperative TRF and PAB levels in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.001), except for the postoperative ALB level (t=1.693, P=0.092). As to the CRP and PCT levels, no significant difference was observed between the two groups before operation (P>0.05). However, the serum CRP and PCT levels were remarkably increased in both groups one week after operation (P<0.001), and the observation group showed significantly lower levels than the control group (P<0.001). Conclusion: The application of FTS in laparoscopic radical resection of colon cancer can not only effectively shorten the hospital stay, improve the nutritional status and inflammatory factors in the perioperative period, but also promote the recovery of postoperative gastrointestinal function of patients, which is worthy of clinical application.