Abstract
Objective: We evaluated the superiority of laparoscopic surgery (LS) for right-side colon cancer to compare LS clinical and economic outcomes with open surgery (OS).
Patients: The subjects were 42 consecutive persons with pathological stage II and III primary right-side colon cancer treated between 2006 to 2007 involving 25 in the LS group and 17 in the OS group.
Results: Clinical outcome: In the LS group, tumor locations were 7 in the cecum (C), 17 in the ascending colon (A), and one in the right-side transverse colon (T). In the OS group, tumor locations were one in the appendix (v), 2 in C, and 14 in A. Operating time in LS was significantly longer than that in OS, although bleeding volume during surgery was significantly lower than in OS, and hospital stay was significantly shorter. Neither the postoperative food intake nor rate of complications differed significantly between the groups. Economic outcome: Both the admission cost and DPC comprehensive cost of OS were significantly higher than those of LS, whereas the daily admission cost for LS was higher than that for OS. The LS operation cost was significantly higher than that for OS, but the LS operation cost was higher than that of OS, and so the pure profit for OS operation was higher than that for LS.
Conclusion: LS helps improve the quality of life after operation, but its cost must be reduced to help ensure the financial health and survival of hospitals.
