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Contact: Will Sansom, (210) 567-2579, sansom@uthscsa.edu
Laparoscopic colorectal surgery reduces patients’ pain, surgeon says
San Antonio (March 17, 2006) – It has been more than a decade since the first laparoscopic
colorectal surgery was performed, and all indications are that the minimally invasive technique “is
a significant advance in the way we treat colorectal cancer and other conditions,” said John H.
Winston III, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at The University of Texas Health Science Center
at San Antonio. Dr. Winston recently was recruited to the Health Science Center from The Ohio
State University. March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
“Scientifically, patients who have the laparoscopic approach vs. traditional open surgery
use much less pain medication, recover faster and suffer fewer side effects of the pain
medications,” Dr. Winston said. “These patients have shorter hospital stays, less pain and fewer
complications of open surgery, such as pneumonia and wound infection. Older people can
generally be discharged to home instead of to a rehabilitation or nursing facility. This is a
significant advantage in a large health care system where costs may need to be addressed.”
Dr. Winston is a specialist in the laparoscopic approach. He performs surgeries at Health
Science Center clinical partner hospitals including University Hospital and the South Texas
Veterans Health Care System, Audie Murphy Division, and sees patients in clinic at the
University Physicians Group and the Cancer Therapy and Research Center.
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OFFICE OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900  Phone: (210) 567-2570  FAX: (210) 567-6811
Page 2—Laparoscopic colorectal surgery
Open surgery is performed through a 4- to 8-inch-long abdominal incision, whereas a
laparoscopic colectomy surgery is performed through three or four small abdominal incisions
that usually are less than one-fourth of an inch wide. Thin plastic or metal tubes are placed
through the small incisions, and carbon dioxide gas is used to inflate the abdomen to give the
surgeon access to the colon and inner portion of the rectum. A thin instrument called a
laparoscope is then placed through one of the incisions. Long, narrow surgical instruments are
placed through the other incisions. Dr. Winston performs the surgery by skillfully manipulating
the instruments within the visual field provided by the laparoscope.
A key concern for surgeons is removing all cancerous cells to prevent recurrence and
obtain appropriate survival without cancer. How does the laparoscopic approach fare against the
open approach? “By all parameters, based on several international randomized controlled trials,
oncologically the results are equal,” Dr. Winston said. “We have to raise the question of whether
the long-term survival is equal, and indications are that it is. There have been three small trials
that indicate it may even be superior in some groups of patients, but again, this issue needs to be
proven in a well-designed trial.”
Laparoscopic surgery can be used to treat both cancer and benign colorectal disease, he noted.
If you have any questions about colorectal cancer, visit
http://www.surgery.uthscsa.edu/surgicaloncology/coloncancer.asp. Topics include screening and
detection, prevention, risk factors, symptoms, treatment and follow-up.
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Read news from the UT Health Science Center at http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/newsrelease.asp.