Kim JW, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2015 Jan;30(1):16-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2015.30.1.16

Hong M, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2017 Oct;32(10):1595-1602. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2017.32.10.1595

Kim JW, et al. Ann Surg Treat Res. 2015 Apr;88(4):215-221. https://doi.org/10.4174/astr.2015.88.4.215

The insertion of a self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) has been proposed as an alternative to emergent surgery (ES) for obstructive colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to evaluate the perioperative and oncologic outcomes of SEMS as a bridge to surgery in obstructive CRC, as compared with ES. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent curative resection of obstructive CRC at four Hallym University-affiliated hospitals between January 2010 and December 2019. All patients were analyzed overall colon, then according to the side of obstruction (overall, right or left). Of 167 patients, 52 patients underwent ES and 115 underwent SEMS insertion and surgery (SEMS group). The postoperative hospital stay and time to soft diet were shorter in the SEMS group than in the ES group for overall and both sided cancer. The SEMS group had lower rates of stoma formation and severe complications for overall and for left-sided cancer. The 5-year overall survival (P = 0.682) and disease-free survival (P = 0.233) rates were similar in both groups. SEMS insertion as a bridge to surgery was associated with faster recovery, a lower rate of stoma formation with similar oncologic outcomes to those of ES.

Background and objectives: Single-port laparoscopic appendectomy (SLA) in most previous studies has used intracorporeal excision of the appendix and needed a longer operative time than multi-port laparoscopic appendectomy (MLA), although SLA does have the potential benefit of an almost invisible scar within the umbilicus. Some studies have reported that extracorporeal transumbilical single-incision laparoscopic-assisted appendectomy (TULAA) in children took a considerably reduced operative time compared to MLA. We adopted TULAA in adults, adding routine dissection of the peritoneal attachment of the appendix. The aim was to compare the operative outcomes between TULAA and MLA. Materials and Methods: Between March 2013 and January 2016, 770 patients with acute uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis from 15 to 75 years of age were enrolled retrospectively. The operation was performed as early (EA) and interval appendectomy (IA). Results: Operative time was shorter in the TULAA group than in the MLA group, except for IA. No open conversion occurred in the TULAA group, except one case of ileocecal resection for IA. No intra-abdominal fluid collection was found in the TULAA group. Extended resection (especially partial cecectomy) was performed less frequently in the TULAA group than in the MLA group for IA. Mean postoperative hospital stay was shorter in the TULAA group for uncomplicated appendicitis. When the data of the EA group and the IA group were compared, operative time was significantly shorter in the IA group for both MLA and TULAA. The open conversion rate and the complication rate tended to be lower in the IA group. Confined to IA, the TULAA group tended to have shorter mean initial, postoperative, and total hospital stays. Conclusions: TULAA can be a useful surgical alternative to MLA in adults and young adolescents, because it lacks open conversion and provides both a shorter operative time and a shorter postoperative hospital stay. TULAA is feasible for IA in that it showed a lower rate of extended resection and complications.

Background. The objective of this study was to compare the long-term prognosis of patients with T1 and T2 colorectal cancer (CRC) according to lymph node metastasis (LNM) and to identify risk factors for LNM. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent curative resection for T1 or T2 CRC at five University-affiliated hospitals between January 2012 and December 2021. The patients were divided into several groups depending on the presence of LNM or the number of risk factors. Results. Of the total 765 patients, 87 (11.3%) patients had LNM. These patients had poorer recurrence-free survival (RFS) than patients without LNM (72.6% vs. 88.6%). The multivariable analysis showed that high-grade tumors (p = 0.003), lymphovascular invasion (p < 0.001), and rectal location (p = 0.049) were independent predictors of LNM. When divided into groups according to the number of the three risk factors, the risk of LNM increased from 5.4% (ultralow-risk group; no risk factor) to 60.0% (high-risk group; all three risk factors) and the 5-year RFS rate decreased from 96.3% in the ultralow-risk group to 60% in the high-risk group (p < 0.001). Conclusion. Radical surgery should be considered for T1 and T2 CRC patients with these risk factors.