Trocar site recurrence in laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer

Abstract

Laparoscopic colorectal surgery has been associated with less postoperative pain, an early return of bowel function, a shorter period of hospitalization and disability, and better cosmetic results. However, the application of laparoscopic techniques to the curative resection of colorectal cancer is still controversial, owing to reports of cancer recurrence at the port site wounds. The accumulation of numerous such reports in a relatively short period raised concern that there might be an extraordinary high rate of port site metastases after laparoscopic colorectal surgery. This concern has led to intense clinical and basic research aimed at determining the incidence and causes of wound recurrence and developing preventative measures to address this problem. Despite these efforts, it is still not clear whether port site metastasis is really an inherent drawback to laparoscopic cancer surgery.