The comparison of health‐related quality of life and patient satisfaction between single‐incision and multiport laparoscopic colectomy for cancer: A sub‐study of a randomized, prospective clinical trial

AIM: The present study clarified the effect on the health‐related quality of life and patient satisfaction of single‐incision laparoscopic colectomy compared with multiport laparoscopic colectomy for colorectal cancer. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, control trial comparing single‐incision and multiport laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer. We performed a pre‐planned secondary analysis of health‐related quality of life and patient satisfaction data of 200 patients. Health‐related quality of life was evaluated using the Japanese 36‐item Short Form Health Survey (SF‐36) version 2.0 before surgery and at 1 month after surgery. Patient satisfaction was compared using seven questionnaires at 1 month after surgery. RESULTS: One hundred patients were assigned to each group. After excluding 18 patients (9.0%) who did not complete the SF‐36, 182 patients (91.0%) were included in the analysis (92 cases of single‐incision laparoscopic colectomy and 90 cases of multiport laparoscopic colectomy). The SF‐36 scores at 1 month after surgery were not significantly different between the two arms. The role physical, bodily pain, vitality and physical component summary were significantly lower at 1 month after surgery than before in both groups. However, the role emotional was significantly lower after surgery than before only in the single‐incision laparoscopic colectomy group. In terms of patient satisfaction at 1 month after surgery, there were no significant differences in any of the seven items on the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Single‐incision laparoscopic colectomy was similar to multiport laparoscopic colectomy in terms of health‐related quality of life and patient satisfaction. However, single‐incision laparoscopic colectomy may be inferior than multiport laparoscopic colectomy in terms of the role emotional.