Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic colorectal resection through our initial experience with laparoscopic surgery for treating colorectal cancer, as compared with open surgery. Methods: Between February 2006 and August 2008, fifty consecutive laparoscopic colorectal operations were performed by one colorectal surgeon who previously had no experience with laparoscopic colorectal surgery, and we retrospectively compared this with forty patients who had undergone open surgery by the same operator. The collected data was the clinicopathologic characteristics, the operation time, the perioperative complications, the oncologic outcomes and the postoperative recovery results. Results: There were no significant differences for the tumor staging, the tumor location, the number of harvested lymph nodes, the resection margin, perioperative complications, the recurrent rate and the operative time between the two groups. The laparoscopic surgery group had significant benefits for the time of first flatus (3.7 days vs. 4.7 days, respectively, p=0.04), first water intake (4.7 days vs. 5.5 days, respectively, p=0.03), start of diet (5.4 days vs. 7.0 days, respectively, p=0.02), and the length of the postoperative hospital stay (15.3 days vs. 18.8 days, respectively, p=0.04). The operation time in the late period of the learning curve for the laparoscopic surgery group seemed to be shorter than that of the early period, although there was no significant difference between the two periods. Conclusion: Our initial experience with laparoscopic colorectal resection for treating colorectal cancer seems to be acceptable in terms of recovery and the postoperative morbidity. As we gain more experience and determine the long term follow-up oncologic outcomes, laparoscopic surgery maybe become a feasible and safe procedure to treat colorectal cancer.

Keywords: Laparoscopic colorectal resection, Open surgery, Learning curve