Background:

Laparoscopic colectomy (LC) presents similar short-term results and oncological outcomes to conventional colectomy (CC) in colon cancer.

Objectives:

Compare short-term and oncological outcomes at 3-year follow up between LC and CC.

Materials and methods:

Patients who underwent LC and CC for colon cancer between January 2010 and December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Short-term results and oncological outcomes were studied.

Results:

Two hundred sixty-nine patients were included in the study. CC was performed in 37.5% and LC in 62.5%. LC presented shorter operative time (157 vs. 175 min, p = 0.01), shorter length of stay (8.4 vs. 10.5 days, p = 0.02), lees readmission (6% vs. 15%, p = 0.02), and lower morbidity (40% vs. 56%, p = 0.01). No differences were found for overall survival (OAS) (LC = 87.1% vs. CC = 82.8%, p = 0.28) and disease-free survival (DFS) (LC = 78.2% vs. CC = 75.3%, p = 0.47). Recurrence was observed in 37 patients (LC = 16.1% vs. CC = 18.3%, p = 0.53). No differences were found for local recurrence (LC = 6.5% vs. CC = 8.6%, p = 0.49) and distant recurrence (LC = 12.1% vs. CC = 16.1%, p = 0.3). Stage analysis showed no difference for recurrence, OAS, and DFS.

Conclusions:

LC is a safe procedure with short-term outcomes, OAS, DFS, and recurrence similar to CC. LC should be the initial indication in non-metastatic colon cancer in our population.