Laparoscopic complete mesocolic excisions for colonic cancer in the last decade: Five-year survival in a single centre

AIM: To analyse clinical and long-term oncologic results after laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) for colonic cancer over a 10-year period. METHODS: Consecutive patients who received laparoscopic CME at our hospital from 2007 to 2017 were prospectively registered and retrospectively analysed. In total, 341 patients were included with tumour-nodal-metastasis (TNM) stages 0-III. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 71.9 years. The median length of stay was 5 d. The mean lymph node harvest was 17.8. The mortality rate was 1.2%. Fifteen patients were reoperated on for anastomotic leaks. The local recurrence rate was 2.3%. Five-year TTR and cancer-specific survival CSS were 83.1% and 90.3%. The location of the tumour was not a significant variable for survival in unadjusted and adjusted survival analysis. TNM stage and anastomotic leaks were significant variables with respect to survival. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic CME results in acceptable complication rates and long-term oncologic results. It is important to avoid anastomotic leaks because of their negative effect on survival.