Evaluation of laparoscopic versus open colorectal surgery in elderly patients more than 70 years old: an evaluation of 727 patients

Background With longer life expectancy, surgeons can expect to operate on older patients. Laparoscopic colorectal (LC) surgery has been demonstrated to be superior to open surgery. Controversy persists, however, regarding benefits of LC in the elderly due to increase in operative time. The aim of our study was to compare short-term outcomes of LC versus open colorectal (OC) surgery in elderly patients. Materials and methods Patients ≥70 years old that underwent elective LC between 2005 and 2008 were compared with controls who underwent OC. Data was extracted from a prospectively collected database. Results Seven hundred and twenty-seven patients underwent colorectal resection in this study period (LC n = 225, OC n = 502). The laparoscopic arm was characterised by shorter incisions (LC 6.0 cm vs. OC 12.0 cm, p