Laparoscopic Bowel Resection: Advantages and Limitations

Laparoscopic surgery has been successfully employed for many years by gynecologic surgeons. Over the last several years, a tremendous increase in the enthusiasm towards laparoscopic surgery has reached the general and colorectal surgical communities. This enthusiasm was initially directed towards laparoscopic cholecystectomy but subsequently has expanded to laparoscopic appendectomy and laparoscopic bowel resection. Currently, laparoscopic bowel surgery is undergoing critical appraisal. Through meaningful prospective data retrieval, answers are being obtained to questions dealing with the efficacy and utility of this technique for colorectal diseases. Specifically, although laparoscopic colorectal surgery is feasible, one cannot definitively attest to its superiority over or even equivalence to standard open laparotomy at the present time. However, in small select series, including our own, our preliminary experience indicates that laparoscopic surgery may well, in the near future, be an acceptable substitute for standard laparotomy. This article will discuss the techniques of, instrumentation for, and preliminary results with a program of laparoscopic bowel resection.