Laparoscopic Versus Open Right Colectomy for Cancer in the Era of Complete Mesocolic Excision with Central Vascular Ligation: Pathology and Short-Term Outcomes.

Background: Colectomies performed according to complete mesocolic excision with central vascular ligation (CME-CVL) principles have been associated with enhanced oncologic outcomes. Nonetheless, laparoscopic CME-CVL right hemicolectomy has not been widely adopted. We aimed to compare the perioperative and pathology outcomes of laparoscopic and open CME-CVL right hemicolectomy. Materials and Methods: We compared data from a prospectively collected database regarding patients who underwent either laparoscopic or open CME-CVL right hemicolectomy for nonmetastatic right colon cancer in a University Hospital, between January 2012 and December 2018. Results: A total of 130 consecutive patients were included in the study. Of them, 73 patients underwent laparoscopic and 57 patients open right colectomy, following the CME-CVL principles. The laparoscopic approach was associated with less hospital stay (6.6 versus 9.1 days; P   .05), rate of vascular (P = .501), and perineural infiltration (P = .956). Furthermore, no difference was found regarding the rate of intact mesocolic plane (P = .799), along with the tumor diameter (P = .154) and the length of specimen (P = .163). Conclusion: Laparoscopic CME-CVL right hemicolectomy appears to offer certain advantages in short-term outcomes compared to open procedure. Pathology outcomes did not differ between the two approaches. Future studies should further evaluate their long-term outcomes.