Background: Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy has become an acceptable treatment for right-sided colon cancer. Most centers use multiport laparoscopic right hemicolectomy extracorporeally (MRHE), whereas single-incision laparoscopic right hemicolectomy intracorporeally (SRHI) remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare these two techniques using propensity score matching analysis.
Methods: We analyzed the data from 111 patients who underwent laparoscopic right hemicolectomy between December 2015 and December 2016. The propensity score was calculated according to age, gender, body mass index, the American Society of Anesthesiologists score, previous abdominal surgery, and D3 lymph node dissection. Postoperative pain was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and postoperative analgesic use was an outcome measure.
Results: The length of skin incision in SRHI was significantly shorter than in MRHE [3 (3.5-6) versus 4 (3-6) cm, respectively; P = 0.007]. The VAS score on day 1 and day 2 after surgery was significantly less in SRHI than in MRHE [30 (10-50) versus 50 (20-69) on day 1, P = 0.037; 10 (0-50) versus 30 (0-70) on day 2, P = 0.029]. Significantly fewer patients required analgesia after SRHI on day 1 and day 2 after surgery [1 (0-3) versus 2 (0-4) on day 1, P = 0.024; 1 (0-2) versus 1 (0-4) on day 2, P = 0.035]. There were no significant differences in operative time, intraoperative blood loss, number of lymph nodes removed, and postoperative course between groups.
Conclusions: SRHI appears to be safe and technically feasible. Moreover, SRHI reduces the length of the skin incision and postoperative pain compared with MRHE.
Keywords: Colon cancer; Intracorporeal resection; Single-incision laparoscopic surgery.