J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 118(4): 428-433, 2017

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Feature topic

LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY FOR COLORECTAL CANCER

Laparoscopic surgery has several advantages over open surgery, such as smaller skin incision, faster postoperative recovery, and magnification effect of the operative field. The proportion of laparoscopic surgeries in all colorectal cancer surgeries is increasing in Japan, and according to a survey by the Japanese Society for Endoscopic Surgery, about 62％ of colorectal cancer surgery was performed laparoscopically in 2015. Although the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic surgery in colon cancer surgery have been shown in several large-scale clinical trials, including the JCOG0404 trial conducted in Japan, there are still debates regarding the oncologic safety of laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer because of the technical difficulty of rectal dissection and transection in the deep pelvis. It is important to balance the surgeon’s skill and difficulty of the operative procedure in order to maximize the benefit and minimize the risk of this technique. With progress in surgical devices and imaging technology, laparoscopic colorectal surgery will continue to evolve in the future.

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