Laparoscopic Colectomy in a district hospital: The single surgeon can be safe

Background: Several outcome measures have been identified for colorectal surgery and published in the literature. This study sought to compare outcomes of high volume laparoscopic colectomy by a single surgeon in a district hospital with outcomes from tertiary referral centres. Methods: This was a retrospective review of elective laparoscopic colectomy by a single laparoscopic general surgeon in a district hospital over a 51-month period using a prospectively maintained database. The key outcome measures studied were length of hospital stay, conversion to open, anastomotic leak, wound infection, re-admission and 30-day mortality. Results: 187 elective laparoscopic colectomies were performed at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital between July 2008 and October 2012. The median patient age was 69 years (range 22–90 years). Median length of hospital stay was 4 days (range 1–48 days). Anastomotic leak occurred in 4 (2.1%) patients. Seven (3.7%) patients underwent conversion to open surgery. Re-admission occurred in 4 (2.1%) patients for small bowel obstruction (1), wound infection (1), anastomotic leak (1) and colo-vaginal fistula (1). There was one post-operative death from severe chest infection (0.5%). These results are similar to those published by tertiary referral centres. Conclusions: This study of outcomes at a district hospital shows that the outcome reported from laparoscopic colorectal surgery in tertiary referral centres is reproducible at the district hospital level by a single surgeon with a high operative volume.