Use of barbed suture for the closure of enterocolotomy after laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis. A prospective descriptive study.

Abstract Introduction Performing intracorporeal anastomoses and sutures is possibly the technique that requires the greatest skill in laparoscopic surgery. The appearance of the new barbed sutures in recent years has seemed to facilitate this surgical step. The aim of our study is to evaluate short-term results in patients with neoplasms of the right colon, after laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis using barbed suture at the closure of the enterocolotomy. Patients and methods This is a multicenter, prospective, descriptive study that includes patients who underwent laparoscopic right hemicolectomy for neoplastic colonic pathologies between June 2015 and December 2018. In all patients, the intracorporeal anastomosis was performed using the endocutter, and closure of the enterocolotomy was done with a double layer of barbed suture. Results A total of 80 patients were treated (47.5% women), with an average age of 70.6 ± 9 (49–92) years. The average operative time was 99.5 ± 38 min. Anastomotic dehiscence was observed in 2.5% of the sample, and 5 patients required re-operation (6.2%) as a result of two leaks, two obstructive symptoms and one peritoneal bleeding. Mean hospital stay was 7 (3–173) days. Conclusions The use of barbed suture in laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis seems to present a morbidity similar to series described in literature. Prospective, controlled and randomized studies with a larger number of patients would be necessary to confirm these findings.