Laparoscopic Resection For Rectal Cancer In Elderly Patients: A Comparative Analysis With Safety And Short-term Outcomes

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and short-termoutcomes of laparoscopic surgery for recta cancer in elderly patients.Methods: A retrospective comparative analysis was carried out from aprospective database of180consecutive elderly patients(>60years) whounderwent surgery for rectal cancer from September2010to August2012atthe Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery of The First Affiliated Hospitalof Chongqing Medical University, which were divided into100caseslaparoscopic group and80cases open traditional group. Perioperativesituation and pathological result were statistically analysed.Results: Generally there is no significant difference betweenLaparoscopic group and open group. Statistical difference was found withrespect to the length of the incision, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperativeblood transfusion, time of flatus pass, postoperative feeding time,postoperative hospital stay and total hospital costs(P value is less than<0.05). Conclusion: Compared with open surgery, laparoscopic-assistedsurgery for rectal cancer in elderly patients provided a similar radicality ofresection and did not increase the incidence of complications, with theadvantages of smaller incision, faster recovery, and shorter hospital stay. Itslong-term efficacy has yet to be a study of a prospective randomizedcontrolled trial.