The short-term outcomes of laparoscopic–endoscopic cooperative surgery for colorectal tumors (LECS-CR) in cases involving endoscopically unresectable colorectal tumors

Purpose Laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative colorectal surgery (LECS) is widely used for the removal of endoscopically unresectable colonic polyps. We evaluated the invasiveness of LECS in comparison to conventional laparoscopic surgery (CLS) for endoscopically unresectable colorectal tumors. Method We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with colorectal adenoma or mucosal cancer and submucosal tumors who underwent either LECS or CLS at a single, high-volume center in Japan between 2004 and 2017. The short-term and oncological outcomes were compared between groups. Results Of the 83 eligible patients, 15 underwent LECS and 68 underwent CLS. There was no conversion to open surgery in either group. En bloc resection was achieved in all cases in both groups. The median time to solid diet intake was the same in both groups (2 days, p = 0.39). The median duration of hospital stay after surgery was 6 days (range 4–12 days) in the LECS group and 10 days (range 5–68 days) in the CLS group ( p = 0.01). Clavien–Dindo grade ≥ 3 postoperative complications only occurred in the CLS group (two cases, p = 0.37). Conclusion Our results indicated that LECS is a safe and feasible technique that results in high-quality colorectal polyp resection with quicker recovery and favorable 30-days postoperative outcomes.