Transverse Skin Crease versus Vertical Midline Incision versus Laparoscopy for Right Hemicolectomy: A Systematic Review—Current Status of Right Hemicolectomy

PURPOSE The right hemicolectomy may be conducted through laparoscopic or laparotomic surgery, transverse or midline incisions. The transverse laparotomy offers some advantages compared to the midline laparotomy and laparoscopy. A literature review was performed to evaluate the possible advantages of the transverse incision versus midline incision or laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. METHODS A systematic research was performed in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, BioMed Central, and the Science Citation Index. RESULTS Laparotomic right hemicolectomy with transverse incision is preferable to laparotomic hemicolectomy with midline incision. A transverse incision offers a lessened postoperative pain following physical activity, a lessened need to administer analgesic therapy during the post-operative time, better aesthetic results, and a better post-operative pulmonary function. Open surgery with transverse or midline incision ensured a shorter operative time, lower costs and a greater length of the incision compared to the laparoscopic. However, there are no differences in the oncological outcomes. CONCLUSIONS It was not possible to identify significant differences between the open right hemicolectomy with transverse incision versus the open right hemicolectomy with midline incision or laparoscopic hemicolectomy.