BACKGROUND

Simultaneous surgery for primary colorectal tumor with synchronous liver metastasis has been showed to be safe and effective. One-stage, totally laparoscopic colorectal and minor liver resections have been reported, but there are no data regarding patients requiring simultaneous major hepatectomies and colorectal surgery. We aimed to evaluate the safety, feasibility and short-term outcomes of a small cohort of highly selected patients treated by 1-stage, totally laparoscopic major hepatectomy and colorectal resection.

METHODS

From January 2009 to July 2011, 5 patients (3 women and 2 men) with primary colorectal neoplasm and synchronous monolobar liver metastasis requiring a major hepatectomy underwent attempt of 1-stage, totally laparoscopic approach after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A retrospective analysis of prospective collected data was performed.

RESULTS

There were no conversions to open procedures. All the patients but 1 underwent a 1-stage laparoscopic resection. Among these, liver procedures were 3 right and 1 left hepatectomy; colonic procedures were 3 sigmoidectomies and 1 anterior resection of the rectum. Median operative time was 495 minutes, and duration of hospital stay, 6 days. Median estimated blood loss was 475 mL (range, 300-630) with no mortality observed. An R0 resection was always achieved. Median follow-up was 14 months (range, 7-20) with 1 recurrence observed in the liver.

CONCLUSION

In highly selected patients, a totally laparoscopic approach is a feasible and safe option to treat primary colorectal neoplasm with synchronous liver metastasis requiring major hepatectomies. These results need to be validated by larger, prospective, randomized studies.