Laparoscopic Colorectal Cancer Surgery

Laparoscopic techniques have been introduced into the colorectal field since the beginning of the last decade of the last millennium. The main purpose of this minimally invasive approach is to minimise the trauma of access associated with a large abdominal incision in colorectal resection. The less traumatic approach to surgery hopefully would lead to less wound pain, hasten return of intestinal function and hence result in earlier patient recovery and shorter hospital stay. But all these advantages have to be realised without the compromise of the safety and radicality of the colorectal resection, especially for colorectal cancers. These purposes of laparoscopic colorectal resections have largely been achieved and shown by the results of large series in a few centers in the world. However, due to the technical barrier of difficulty in attaining proficiency in the skills required, generalization of this minimal invasive approach is still not achieved yet. In the last few years, newer techniques, such as the hand-assist approach and other hybrid laparoscopic-open approach have been designed to overcome some of the technical difficulties. On the other hand, more complicated and advanced laparoscopic operations such as total mesorectal excisions for mid and low rectal cancer have been attempted and initial success has been reported.