Laparoscopic colectomy for transverse colon carcinoma

Laparoscopic resection of transverse colon carcinoma is technically demanding and was excluded from most of the large trials of laparoscopic colectomy. The aim of this study was to assess the safety, feasibility, and outcome of laparoscopic resection of carcinoma of the transverse colon. A retrospective review was performed to identify patients who underwent laparoscopic resection of transverse colon carcinoma. These patients were compared to patients who had laparoscopic resection for right and sigmoid colon carcinoma. In addition, they were compared to a historical series of patients who underwent open resection for transverse colon cancer. A total of 22 patients underwent laparoscopic resection for transverse colon carcinoma. Sixty-eight patients operated for right colon cancer and 64 operated for sigmoid colon cancer served as comparison groups. Twenty-four patients were identified for the historical open group. Intraoperative complications occurred in 4.5% of patients with transverse colon cancer compared to 5.9% (P = 1.0) and 7.8% (P = 1.0) of patients with right and sigmoid colon cancer, respectively. The early postoperative complication rate was 45, 50 (P = 1.0), and 37.5% (P = 0.22) in the three groups, respectively. Conversion was required in 1 (5%) patient in the laparoscopic transverse colon group. The conversion rate and late complications were not significantly different in the three groups. There was no significant difference in the number of lymph nodes harvested in the laparoscopic and open groups. Operative time was significantly longer in the laparoscopic transverse colectomy group when compared to all other groups (P = 0.001, 0.008, and < 0.001 compared to right, sigmoid, and open transverse colectomy, respectively). The results of laparoscopic colon resection for transverse colon carcinoma are comparable to the results of laparoscopic resection of right or sigmoid colon cancer and open resection of transverse colon carcinoma. These results suggest that laparoscopic resection of transverse colon carcinoma is safe and feasible.