대한대장항문학회

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether obesity increases the risk of performing a laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer. <br>Methods: Prospectively collected data were obtained for 103 patients who had undergone laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer from September 2001 to August 2002. Patients who had had a previous abdominal operation, a total colectomy or an additional surgical procedure at the time of colon resection were excluded from the analysis. The patients were divided into two groups based on body mass index (BMI kg/㎡): the normal group (BMI <25) and the obesity group (BMI≥25). Intraoperative blood loss, operative time, conversion, length of hospital stay and complications were analyzed. <br>Results: Nineteen patients (25%) were obese. Operation time (183.2 min vs 202.1 min) and the blood loss (98.2 ml vs 168.2 ml) were significantly increased in the obese patients, but hospital discharge after surgery (11.7 days vs 11.9 days) and the morbidity rate (8.5% vs 5.3%) were not different between the groups. Conversion to the an open precedure occurred with one obese patient, but that was not related to obesity. In the analysis of the low anterior resection, blood loss (94.6 ml vs 186.6 ml) was significantly higher in obese patients, but no statistically significant differences existed for other surgical outcomes between the two groups. <br>Conclusions: A laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer can be safely performed in obese patients.