BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic surgery is a widely accepted treatment modality, but with few disadvantages.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the demographic, clinical, tumor, and operative characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic surgery.

DESIGN

Descriptive study.

PARTICIPANTS

47 males and 40 females, aged 19 years and older with colorectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

SETTING

Surgery Department - Colorectal Surgery section, Southern Philippines Medical Center, Davao City, August 2014 to August 2018.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Demographic and clinical characteristics, tumor profile, and operative outcomes.

MAIN RESULTS

This study analyzed 87 patients with colorectal cancer who underwent laparoscopic colorectal surgery. The participants had a mean age of 56.55 ± 11.99 years, with a slight male predominance (54.02%). Most patients resided within Davao Province (72.41%) and commonly presented with comorbidities, particularly hypertension (22.99%). Tumors were mostly located in the rectum (62.07%), and the majority of patients had advanced disease, with 59.77% classified as stage IIIB. Advanced tumor invasion was common, with 60.92% of patients presenting with T3 and 32.18% with T4 disease, while lymph node involvement was observed in 75.86% of cases. Distant metastasis was present in 11.49% of patients, most frequently involving the liver. Low anterior resection was the most commonly performed procedure (39.08%). The mean operative time was 278.89 ± 72.76 minutes, with a mean blood loss of 476.73 ± 341.86 mL and a conversion-to-open rate of 23.26%. Postoperative outcomes showed a morbidity rate of 26.44% and a mortality rate of 3.45%, with patients resuming oral intake after a mean of 4.02 ± 2.17 days and a mean hospital stay of 8.35 ± 6.38 days.

CONCLUSION

Laparoscopic colorectal surgery at our institution was performed among middle-aged patients, mostly males. Rectal cancer was the most common diagnosis, with most patients presenting with advanced stage IIIB disease, and low anterior resection was the most frequently performed procedure. The mean operative time was 279 minutes, with a conversion-to-open rate of nearly 25%. The mean intraoperative blood loss was 476 mL. Oral intake was resumed after a mean of 4 days. The mean hospital stay was 8 days, with low mortality despite a moderate morbidity rate.

Human ; Minimally Invasive Surgery ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; Tumor ; Neoplasms ; Mortality

Globally, especially in the Asian and African regions, there has been a rising burden of obesity due to high consumption of energy-dense foods and the increase of physical inactivity caused by urbanization and sedentary lifestyle changes.1 Bariatric surgery, or weight-loss surgery, remains to be the most effective treatment for morbid obesity, and it also has resulted in a substantial improvement of obesity-related comorbidities, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Obesity, Morbid

Anal melanoma is a rare melanocytic malignancy, which roughly comprises 2% of all anorectal malignancies.1 2 The anal area is the most common site for primary gastrointestinal melanomas.2 Patients with anal melanomas commonly complain of bleeding, anal pain and mass, tenesmus, and changes in bowel habits. In cases with metastases, symptoms such as weight loss, anemia, fatigue and bowel obstruction could be present.2 Risk factors of anal melanoma include old age, multiple sexual partners, anal sex, smoking, history of other malignancies (i.e., cervical, vulvar, or vaginal cancer), activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase c-Kit, and family history of malignancies.3 4 The diagnosis of anal melanoma is established through biopsy—usually done with colonoscopy—and immunological staining.5 HMB-45 is the immunological stain commonly used for the detection of both primary and metastatic melanomas.6 Endoscopic ultrasonography also helps to characterize lesions and assess the depth of infiltration.7
Melanoma ; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary