Minimally invasive surgery for inflammatory bowel disease: Current perspectives

Abstract

The surgical management of complicated and recurrent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), has remained a challenge. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), in the form of laparoscopic resections, single port approach and robotic-assisted dissections in the management of IBD, have been examined in several prospective studies. All of them have shown advantages over open surgery in terms of reduction of physical trauma of surgery, recovery time, better cosmetic outcomes and shorter hospitalization. However, it is important to appreciate that not all patients with IBD are suitable for MIS, so a combination of both open and MIS should be adopted to achieve optimum outcomes. A review on this subject performed by Neumann et al in this issue of World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology and Therapeutics have provided evidence in support of the contemporary practice of MIS in the management of IBD and the accompanying commentary further critically evaluates their application in clinical practice.

Keywords: Minimally invasive surgery; Ulcerative colitis; Crohn’s disease; Laparoscopy; Robotic-assisted surgery

Core tip: The advantages conferred by minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in the management inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are well established. Currently available evidences support the application of MIS in the management of IBD, although the decision to adopt MIS, open surgery or combination of both, has to be made on case-by-case basis, based upon the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of individual technique, available resources and local expertise.