Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate and compare the risk of dissemination metastasis (wound, port-side metastases and peritoneal seeding) after laparoscopic colorectal surgery and conventional open surgery for colorectal cancer.
Materials and methods: The Authors searched relevant randomized controlled trials between January 1998 and July 2012.
Results: Wound, port-site metastases and peritoneal seeding were rare and no significant differences occurred between the two groups. The port-site and extraction site recurrence were likely to be the results of suboptimal surgical techniques and occurred in the early phase of the learning curve. The authors also found no significant differences in overall, local and distant recurrences. No significant differences between laparoscopic and open surgery were found in cancer-related mortality during the follow up period of the study (7 RCTs, 3525 patients, 12.8% vs. 14.00%; OR (fixed) 0.83, 95% CI 0.68-1.02), with no significant heterogeneity (p = 0.35).
Conclusions: The literature supports the implementation of laparoscopic surgery into daily practice. Laparoscopic surgery can be used for safe and radical resection of cancer in the right, left, sigmoid colon and rectum. However further studies should address whether laparoscopic surgery is superior to open surgery in this setting.