Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer: a review of the fascial composition of the abdominal cavity

Laparoscopic surgery has generally been performed for digestive diseases. Many patients with colon cancer undergo laparoscopic procedures. The outcomes of laparoscopic colectomy and open colectomy are the same in terms of the long-time survival. It is important to dissect the embryological plane to harvest the lymph nodes and to avoid bleeding during colon cancer surgery. To date, descriptions of the anatomy of the fascial composition have mainly involved observations unrelated to fundamental embryological concepts, causing confusion regarding the explanations of the surgical procedures, with various vocabularies used without definitions. We therefore examined the fascia of the abdominal space using a fascia concept based on clinical anatomy and embryology. Mobilization of the bilateral sides of the colon involves dissection between the fusion fascia of Toldt and the deep subperitoneal fascia. It is important to understand that the right fusion fascia of Toldt is divided into the posterior pancreatic fascia of Treitz dorsally and the anterior pancreatic fascia ventrally at the second portion of the duodenum. A comprehensive understanding of fascia composition between the stomach and transverse colon is necessary for dissecting the splenic flexure of the colon. As a result of these considerations of the fascia, more accurate surgical procedures can be performed for the excision of colon cancer.