Purpose: This study aimed at evaluating the lymph node (LN) harvest after both open and laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery.
Methods: In the period between 1996 and 2009, 404 patients with colorectal cancer underwent open resection, whereas 147 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery.
Results: The overall number of harvested LNs was significantly higher in the laparoscopic group than in the open one (16.5 vs. 14.3, P<0.001). A higher number of LNs was found in moderately differentiated tumors of the laparoscopic group when compared with the open surgery group (16.7 vs. 14.2, P<0.01). The numbers of harvested LNs in the proximal tumors and in stage II and III tumors were higher in the laparoscopic group than in the open group (18.9 vs. 15.4, P<0.001; 17.9 vs. 14.2, P=0.002; 17.3 vs. 15.3, P=0.02, respectively).
Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer can achieve LN retrieval similar to that achieved by the open approach.