Background The aim of the present study was to examine the technical and oncological feasibility of laparoscopic surgery (LAP) in elderly patients with a history of abdominal surgery.
Methods We conducted a propensity score-matched case-control study of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients aged >= 80 years that were treated at 41 hospitals between 2003 and 2007. We included 601 patients who had a history of abdominal surgery and underwent curative and elective surgery for stage 0 to III CRC. After the matching procedure, 153 patients were included in each cohort. The surgical outcomes of LAP and open surgery (OS) were compared. P-values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results LAP resulted in a significantly longer surgical time (220 vs. 170 min, p < 0.001), but significantly less intraoperative blood loss (39 vs. 100 ml, p < 0.001). A number of postoperative recovery-related parameters, including the length of the hospitalization period (12 vs. 14 days, p = 0.002), and the days to the resumption of fluid (2 vs. 3 days, p < 0.001) and solid food intake (4 vs. 5 days, p < 0.001), were significantly better in the LAP group. Moreover, the overall morbidity rate (43 vs. 66 %, p = 0.009) and the frequency of postoperative ileus (7 vs. 19 %, p = 0.023) were significantly lower in the LAP group, while the frequencies of other morbidities did not differ significantly between the groups. In the survival analyses, overall survival and disease-free survival did not differ between the two groups.
Conclusions In this population, LAP can be performed safely in elderly CRC patients with a history of abdominal surgery, and LAP resulted in a lower postoperative morbidity rate than OS.