[Single incision laparoscopic sigmoidectomy SILS sigmoidectomy]

Abstract

Purpose: Laparoscopic colon resection has several proven advantages over open surgery including postoperative pain, early recovery and better cosmesis. Single-incision laparoscopic (SIL) surgery, the most recent development in minimally invasive surgery, allows operations to be carried out through only a single incision using special ports. SIL surgery combines in part the cosmetic advantage and decreases the parietal trauma of natural orifice surgery, but allows operative realisation with standard and validated laparoscopic instruments. We report here the feasibility and surgical technique of a transumbilical SIL sigmoidectomy.

Indication: We describe a 40-year-old man (BMI 30 kg/m2) with previously documented diverticular abscess and recurrent diverticulitis.

Method: The multichannel 50-mm single port (OCTO-Port®, AFS Medical, Austria) was placed at the umbilicus. Transumbilical SIL sigmoidectomy was feasible with conventional laparoscopic instruments. Operative time for SIL sigmoidectomy was 159 min. A total of 25 cm sigmoid was resected. Oral diet was resumed on postoperative day one. No intraoperative or postoperative complications were recorded. The patient convalesced without complication and went home 6 days after surgery. At the 1-month review, he was fully recovered and his single umbilical scar was well healed.

Conclusion: Transumbilical SIL sigmoidectomy is feasible by experienced laparoscopic surgeons using conventional laparoscopic instruments and staplers. Further studies are certainly warranted for this promising technique. It has to be determined whether SIL offers benefit to the patient, besides cosmesis, compared with standard laparoscopic sigmoidectomy.