OBJECTIVETo investigate the efficacy of complete mesocolic excision (CME) in the radical operation for right hemicolon cancer.

METHODSClinical data of 336 cases of right hemicolon cancer undergoing radical resection, including 218 cases of CME surgery group and 118 cases of traditional surgery group, from January 2005 to December 2014 in Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University were retrospectively analyzed. Intraoperational events, perioperative status and postoperative survival were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe baseline information was not significantly different between the two groups (all P>0.05). The number of harvested lymph nodes in CME and traditional group was 11.4±0.3 and 9.3±0.5 respectively(P=0.000) and the proportion of greater than or equal to 12 lymph nodes per case was 47.3%(103/218) and 28.8%(34/118)(P=0.002), which both were significantly different. The operation time in CME and traditional group was (147.2±2.9) and (148.8±3.9) minutes, which was not significantly different (P>0.05), whereas operative blood loss was (125.7±7.5) and (305.1±20.5) milliliters in CME and traditional group with significant difference (P=0.000). Postoperative hospital stay was (12.9±0.9) and (16.3±1.0) days in CME and traditional group with significant difference (P=0.018), while the time to postoperative liquid intake and normal diet was not significantly different between two groups (both P>0.05). The morbidity of postoperative complication of CME group was lower compared to traditional group (14.2%, 31/218 vs. 24.6%, 29/118), which was significantly different (P=0.018). Among them, infection occurred in 19 (8.7%) cases and 21 (17.8%) cases with significant difference between the two groups (P=0.014). The average time of follow-up was (34.5±1.2) months and (27.9±1.5) months in CME and traditional group, and the five-year survival rate was 85.6% and 78.0% with significant difference(P=0.043). Moreover, 102 cases underwent laparoscopic-assisted CME and 116 cases underwent open CME in CME group. The 5-year survival rate was 89.8% and 82.2% in laparoscopic and open group with significant difference (P=0.048).

CONCLUSIONCompared with traditional radical resection, CME radical resection for right hemicolon cancer can harvest more lymph nodes, decrease operative blood loss, lower the riskof postoperative complication, shorten the postoperative hospital stay, and increase the 5-year survival rate. Furthermore, laparoscopic-assisted CME has more advantages.