Case Report
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World J Gastrointest Surg. Feb 27, 2013; 5(2): 22-26
Published online Feb 27, 2013. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v5.i2.22
Laparoscopic hemicolectomy in a patient with situs inversus totalis after open distal gastrectomy
Yasuo Sumi, Ayako Tomono, Satoshi Suzuki, Daisuke Kuroda, Yoshihiro Kakeji
Yasuo Sumi, Ayako Tomono, Satoshi Suzuki, Daisuke Kuroda, Yoshihiro Kakeji, Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, Kobe 6500017, Japan
Author contributions: Sumi Y, Tomono A, Suzuki S, Kuroda D and Kakeji Y contributed equally to this work; Sumi Y wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Yasuo Sumi, MD, PhD, Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe University, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, chuo-ku, Kobe 6500017, Japan. ysumi0321@gmail.com
Telephone: +81-78-3825925 Fax: +81-78-3825939
Received: June 6, 2012
Revised: November 12, 2012
Accepted: December 20, 2012
Published online: February 27, 2013
Abstract

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is a rare anomaly in which the abdominal and thoracic cavity structures are opposite their usual positions. Occasionally, a few patients with a combination of this condition and malignant tumors have been encountered. Recently, several laparoscopic operations have been reported in patients with SIT. We report a case of an 83-year-old man with situs inversus totalis who developed colon cancer after open distal gastrectomy. Laparoscopic hemicolectomy with radical lymphadenectomy in such a patient was successfully performed by careful consideration of the mirror-image anatomy. Techniques themselves was not different from those in ordinary cases. Thus, curative laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer in the presence of situs inversus totalis is feasible and safe.

Keywords: Situs inversus totalis; Laparoscopic surgery; Hemicolectomy; Colon cancer; Radical lymphadenectomy