The aim of this study was to report nationwide data on the current practice of laparoscopic colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery in Korea. Nationwide surgical data for colorectal cancer from 2008 to 2013 were obtained from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service database and a retrospective analysis of CRC surgery patients was conducted. The trends in laparoscopy use for each procedure of colorectal resection over six years were evaluated. From 2008 to 2013, a total of 105,305 patients nationwide underwent resection for CRC, and 55.3% of the cases underwent laparoscopic surgery. The proportion of laparoscopic resection increased from 42.6% in 2008 to 64.7% in 2013. The most common site of colon cancer was sigmoid, followed by ascending, and rectosigmoid junction, which together accounted for 64.9% of all colon cancer cases. The three leading procedures were low anterior resection, hemicolectomy, and anterior resection, which together accounted for 87.3% of all CRCs. For low anterior resection, the rate of laparoscopy increased from 44.8% in 2008 to 69.8% in 2013. The percentage of abdominoperineal resection for rectal cancer continued to decrease from 10.6% in 2008 to 7.5% in 2013. Over the six years, a total of 2520 robotic surgeries for CRC were performed. The number of robotic surgeries for rectal cancer showed a steady increase, whereas that for colon cancer decreased. Overall, the rate of minimally invasive surgeries for CRC was 43.5% in 2008 and increased to 65.7% in 2013. The laparoscopic resection rate for CRC in Korea is very high and continues to show a steady increase.

Keywords Colorectal neoplasm, Colorectal surgery, Laparoscopy, Database, Korea

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