Comparison of the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted versus open surgery for colorectal cancer

The present study aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted surgery versus open surgery for colorectal cancer and investigate the oncological safety and potential advantages and disadvantages of laparoscopic-assisted surgery for colorectal cancer. The medical records from a total of 160 patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer between January 2009 and January 2013 at The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University (Dalian, China) were retrospectively analyzed. The patients who underwent laparoscopic-assisted surgery showed significant advantages due to the minimally invasive nature of the surgery compared with those who underwent open surgery, namely, less blood loss (P=0.002), shorter time to flatus (P<0.001), bowel movement (P=0.009) and liquid diet intake (P=0.015), earlier ambulation time (P=0.006), smaller length of incision (P<0.001) and a shorter post-operative hospital stay (P=0.007). However, laparoscopic-assisted surgery for colorectal cancer resulted in a longer operative time (P=0.015) and higher surgery expenditure (P=0.003) and total hospitalization costs (P<0.001) compared with open surgery. There were no statistically significant differences between the intraoperative and post-operative complications. There were no differences in the local recurrence (P=0.699) or distant metastasis (P=0.699) rates. In addition, no differences were found in overall survival (P=0.894) and disease-free survival (P=0.701). These findings indicated that laparoscopic-assisted surgery for colorectal cancer had the clear advantages of a minimally invasive surgery and relative disadvantages, including a longer surgery time and higher cost, and exhibited similar rates of recurrence and survival compared with open surgery.