Pain, Pulmonary Function, and Early Recovery After Minimally Invasive Surgery

Most surgeons have been slow to adopt laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer. This is mostly related to long-term oncologic concerns, to the advanced laparoscopic skill set required to perform these complex operations, and for the modest short-term benefits afforded by the minimally invasive technique. Several small and large randomized trials, however, have demonstrated through various measures that there are significant short-term benefits of laparoscopic colectomy over open colectomy for cancer. In addition to reviewing these measures, we will also investigate the effect of adding laparoscopic surgery to “fast track” surgery programs aimed at optimizing postoperative recovery following colectomy.