Early Experience with Minimally Invasive Oncologic Surgery at a Peripheral Cancer Centre in North East India

Introduction: The use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in oncology in certain cancers has been proven to be non-inferior to open procedures with superior short term outcomes in several randomized controlled trials. Methods: A retrospective study of MIS done for cancers of esophagus, lung, colorectal cancers and gastric cancers was done for the study period 1st Jan 2018 to 31st Dec 2019. Results: A total of 46 (54.7 %) procedures were done with the use of MIS out of a total of 84 cases. Trans-thoracic esophagectomy (TTE) was done using VATS in 25 cases (62.5 %). The mean duration of ICU stay was 2days and mean duration of hospital stay was 12days. The mean post-operative pain score was 2. The number of surgeries done by MIS for colorectal cancers was 17 (44.7 %) out of a total of 38 cases. This included 3 lap right hemicolectomies, 9 Lap APR, 5 Lap LAR/ULAR. The mean ICU stay was 1day and the mean hospital stay was 11days. The mean pain score was 3. Also performed was one case of VATS left lung upper lobectomy, one case of VATS right lung metastasectomy, 2 cases of lap-assisted distal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy. Conclusion: The acceptance of MIS in our institute has produced favourable short term results which appear encouraging.