Epistīmonika Chronika (Jan 2017)
Is laparoscopic surgery safe for the management of colon diseases?
Abstract
Introduction of laparoscopic colectomy, initially as a hand-assisted procedure and finally performed completely laparoscopically, in the 1990s met with the serious concerns of surgeons of that period regarding the safe performance of these major procedures in a minimally invasive manner and, especially for colon cancer patients, the oncologic outcome. Impressively, due to the very frequent problem of port metastases (up to 21%!), laparoscopic colectomies were allowed to be performed only in clinical protocols. However, initial concerns were elucidated and outcomes were widely accepted. This was achieved due to well organized training courses of surgeons and the conclusion that, beyond the well known advantages of laparoscopic surgery, the surgical outcomes of patients treated for benign and more importantly malignant diseases were as good as them in open surgery. In this brief report, an analysis of this evolution historically and from the point of evidence-based surgery is carried out.
