Right Colectomy with Complete Mesocolic Excision: Four-arm Technique

Minimally invasive surgery is gaining worldwide acceptance in the treatment of colonic cancer and the advantages over the traditional open approach are well known [1–3]. Unfortunately, during recent decades, the outcomes of patients after colon cancer resection have not improved to the same degree as for rectal cancer, whose treatment with total mesorectal excision (TME) is universally accepted as the standard of care. The complete mesocolic excision (CME), first reported by Hohenberger and colleagues in 2008 [4], seems to produce better long-term outcomes when compared to standard lymphadenectomy by following the same embryological-based principles introduced by Heald for rectal cancer more than 20 years ago [5]. However, well-conducted randomized studies are needed to confirm its efficacy.