Advances in laparoscopic colorectal surgery

Abstract

Since its development 20 years ago, laparoscopic colorectal surgery has been gaining popularity. Advances in technology and the preference for less invasive procedures have widened the indication for laparoscopic surgery and helped spur the development of new procedures such as single-port surgery, reduced-port surgery, NOTES and robotic surgery. Surgical indication is now beyond the total mesorectal excision. A case of total pelvic exenteration with lateral lymph node dissection was recently reported in this journal 1, and it is not difficult to imagine that laparoscopy will be applied to recurrent cases. The initial excitement for NOTES has temporarily subsided because of the lack of a stable surgical platform. However, given the newly developed transanal access and robotic instruments, excitement for transanal NOTES may soon be on the rise again. A robotic surgical system with double consoles offers new educational opportunities, and surgeons can now learn operative procedures in the same way they learn to drive. This issue and the next feature three invited review articles on colorectal surgery, including articles from Dr. Toda on the current status and perspectives on laparoscopic surgery, Dr. Leung on NOTES, and Professor Choi on robotic surgery. We hope these articles will lead to a better understanding of current topics in this field and greater foresight into the developments on the horizon.