Laparoscopic vs. open incisional hernia repair: a randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Incisional hernia is the most frequent surgical complication after laparotomy. Up to 30% of all patients undergoing laparotomy develop an incisional hernia.

Objective: To compare laparoscopic vs open ventral incisional hernia repair with regard to postoperative pain and nausea, operative results, perioperative and postoperative complications, hospital admission, and recurrence rate.

Bowel obstruction after laparoscopic and open colon resection for cancer: results of 5 years of follow-up in a randomized trial.

Background: Postoperative bowel obstruction caused by intra-abdominal adhesions occurs after all types of abdominal surgery. It has been suggested that the laparoscopic technique should reduce the risk for adhesion formation and thus for postoperative bowel obstruction. This study was designed to compare the incidence of bowel obstruction in a randomized trial where laparoscopic and open resection for colon cancer was compared.

Level of arterial ligation in total mesorectal excision (TME): an anatomical study.

Introduction: High-tie ligation is a common practice in rectal cancer surgery. However, it compromises perfusion of the proximal limb of the anastomosis. This anatomical study was designed to assess the value of low-tie ligation in order to obtain a tension-free anastomosis.

Survival after laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery for colon cancer: long-term outcome of a randomised clinical trial.

Background: Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer has been proven safe, but debate continues over whether the available long-term survival data justify implementation of laparoscopic techniques in surgery for colon cancer. The aim of the COlon cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection (COLOR) trial was to compare 3-year disease-free survival and overall survival after laparoscopic and open resection of solitary colon cancer.

Methods: Between March 7, 1997, and March 6, 2003, patients recruited from 29 European hospitals with a solitary cancer of the right or left colon and a body-mass index up to 30 kg/m(2) were randomly assigned to either laparoscopic or open surgery as curative treatment in this non-inferiority randomised trial.

Level of arterial ligation in rectal cancer surgery: low tie preferred over high tie. A review.

Consensus does not exist on the level of arterial ligation in rectal cancer surgery. From oncologic considerations, many surgeons apply high tie arterial ligation (level of inferior mesenteric artery). Other strategies include ligation at the level of the superior rectal artery, just caudally to the origin of the left colic artery (low tie), and ligation at a level without any intraoperative definition of the inferior mesenteric or superior rectal arteries.