Totally laparoscopic resection with natural orifice specimen extraction (NOSE) has more advantages comparing with laparoscopic-assisted resection for selected patients with sigmoid colon or rectal cancer

Purpose The purposes of this study were to compare the short-term outcomes of natural orifice specimen extraction (NOSE) and laparoscopic-assisted resection for sigmoid colon cancer or rectal cancer and to appraise whether totally laparoscopic resection with NOSE had more advantages compared with conventional laparoscopic-assisted resection. Methods Sixty-five patients who underwent totally laparoscopic resection with NOSE were assigned to NOSE group, and 132 patients who underwent laparoscopic-assisted resection were assigned to laparoscopic-assisted (LA) group. Data of all 197 cases were reviewed. Short-term outcomes (including operative outcomes, gastrointestinal recovery, hospital stay, and complication) of the two groups were compared. Results Mean numbers of lymph nodes harvested were 17.0 ± 8.3 and 18.9 ± 11.6 in NOSE group and LA group, respectively, ( P = 0.248); mean operative times were 111.6 ± 25.4 min and 115.3 ± 23.0 min in the two groups ( P = 0.384); and the mean blood losses in these two groups were 70.2 ± 66.1 ml and 126.3 ± 58.6 ml, respectively, ( P