Hand assisted laparoscopic surgery versus conventional laparoscopy for colorectal surgery.

Laparoscopic surgery for colon disease has been shown to have advantages over the open approach in the perioperative period in terms of shorter hospital stay, decreased analgesic use and a more rapid return of bowel function but provides these benefits at the expense of increased technical difficulty and operative time. Hand assisted surgery which a is a hybrid of open surgery and laparoscopic surgery may offer patients the perioperative advantages of minimally invasive surgery without the technical difficulty and increased operative time associated with the conventional laparoscopic approach. This review compares the benefits and harms of laparoscopic and hand assisted laparoscopic surgery for colon disease.