Background: Complete mesocolic excision with central vascular ligation is considered to contribute to superior oncological outcomes after colon cancer surgery. For advanced right-sided colon cancer, this surgery sometimes requires lymph node (LN) dissection along the superior mesenteric vein (SMV), with division of the middle colic vessels, or their right branches, at origin.
Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of cranial to caudal approach in LN dissection along superior mesenteric vein in laparoscopic right hemicolectomy as a novel technique as regard its impact on both radicality and outcome.
Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out at Bab El-Sha'aria University Hospital and AL Salam Oncology Center, during the period from March 2020 to March 2021. Around 20 patients who were posted for laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision with central vascular ligation in cranial to caudal approach were included in the study.
Results: Tumor site in different parts of the right colon was distributed as follow: 5% in the cecum, percentage in the cecum and ascending colon was 10%, in ascending colon 40%, in the hepatic flexure 40%, and in proximal transverse colon 5%. 85% of cases were moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and 15% poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. In our study, complete mesocolic excision (CME) was in 20 cases (100%). The average number of harvested lymph nodes was 16.85 ± 6.39. Histological examination revealed that proximal and distal margins were free of tumor cells in all surgical specimens. The proximal and distal margins were > 5 cm in all specimens. The length of the ileocolic segment was 35.30 ± 7.41cm.
Conclusion: We presented cranially approached radical LN dissection along the surgical trunk during laparoscopic right hemicolectomy.