A single-center retrospective analysis was performed. Patients who underwent hand-assisted or conventional laparoscopic right colectomy were identified from a prospectively maintained departmental database. Preoperative clinical information, details of the operation, lymph node count for cancer cases, postoperative morbidity, length of stay, and 30-day hospital readmissions were evaluated.
From 2006 to 2009, 43 hand-assisted and 84 conventional laparoscopic right colectomies were performed. Comparison of the hand-assisted and conventional laparoscopic groups revealed no differences in the preoperative clinical variables, including average body mass index (calculated as kg/m2; 28 and 29), percent obese (33 % and 34 % ), earlier abdominal surgery (30 % and 39 % ), operative time (122 and 126 minutes), lymph nodes evaluated for cancer cases (22 and 21), postoperative morbidity (30 % ), length of stay (5 days), or 30-day hospital readmission (16 % and 11 % ).
Short-term outcomes of hand-assisted and conventional laparoscopic right colectomy are similar. The decision to perform hand-assisted or conventional laparoscopic right colectomy should be based on the surgeons' preference and not on the perception that one technique is preferable to the other.