Australasian Laparoscopic Colon Cancer Study shows that elderly patients may benefit from lower postoperative complication rates following laparoscopic versus open resection.

Background: A retrospective analysis of age-related postoperative morbidity in the Australia and New Zealand prospective randomized controlled trial comparing laparoscopic and open resection for right- and left-sided colonic cancer is presented.

Methods: A total of 592 eligible patients were entered and studied from 1998 to 2005.

Results: Data from 294 patients who underwent laparoscopic and 298 who had open colonic resection were analysed; 266 patients were aged less than 70 years and 326 were 70 years or older (mean(s.d.) 70.3(11.0) years). Forty-three laparoscopic operations (14.6 per cent) were converted to an open procedure. Fewer complications were reported for intention-to-treat laparoscopic resections compared with open procedures (P = 0.002), owing primarily to a lower rate in patients aged 70 years or more (P = 0.002). Fewer patients in the laparoscopic group experienced any complication (P = 0.035), especially patients aged 70 years or above (P = 0.019).

Conclusion: Treatment choices for colonic cancer depend principally upon disease-free survival; however, patients aged 70 years or over should have rigorous preoperative investigation to avoid conversion and should be considered for laparoscopic colonic resection.

Registration Number: NCT00202111 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).