Single-Port Laparoscopic Right Hemicolectomy: The Learning Curve

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Single-port laparoscopic colectomy is described as a new technique in colorectal surgery. The initial case reports show the safety and feasibility, but the learning curve for this technique is unknown. METHODS: Between July 2009 and September 2010, 20 consecutive patients with an indication for right hemicolectomy underwent a single-port laparoscopic approach without bias in selection. The only exclusion criterion was a prior midline laparotomy. The patients were followed up for 30 days. Chart review was completed for up to 35 months to assess long-term morbidity and mortality rates. RESULTS: The median age was 65 years (range, 59–88 years). Ninety percent of patients were men. The median body mass index was 28 kg/m(2) (range, 20–35 kg/m(2)). Seventy-five percent of patients had significant comorbidities with an American Society of Anesthesiologists class of 3 or 4. The estimated blood loss was 25 mL (range, 25–250 mL). The median number of pathologic lymph nodes for patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma was 16 (range, 8–23). There was one conversion to hand-assisted laparoscopic (case 6) and one to open colectomy (case 9) because of the inability to achieve safe vessel ligation. The median hospital stay was 4.5 days (range, 3–7 days). The length of stay for the first 10 patients was 5.1 days, and it was 3.9 days for the last 10 patients (P = .045). There were no significant postoperative complications within 30 days. The mean operative time for the first 10 cases was 198 minutes (range, 148–272 minutes), and it was 123 minutes (range, 98–150 minutes) for the subsequent 10 cases (P = .0001). All intraoperative complications (minor bleeding) occurred within the first 10 patients, with no significant bleeding recorded for the last 10 cases. CONCLUSION: Single-port laparoscopic right hemicolectomy can be safely performed in patients who are candidates for conventional or hand-assisted right hemicolectomy with very low intraoperative and postoperative complication rates. The 30-day morbidity rate remained low with this technique. The higher technical difficulty compared with conventional laparoscopy is reflected in the longer initial operative times. The learning curve for a surgeon with advanced laparoscopic skills and adequate procedure numbers seems to be short, requiring approximately 10 cases to decrease operative times to baseline. The role and feasibility of broad adaptation for single-incision laparoscopy in colorectal surgery need to be further evaluated in larger case series and trials.