Preoperative assessment of vascular anatomy by multidetector computed tomography before laparoscopic colectomy for transverse colon cancer: Report of a case

Abstract

Although the safety of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer has been reported in many randomized controlled trials, concerns about the difficulty of surgery for transverse colon cancer has not been fully resolved, mainly because of the variation in the vascular anatomy of mesenteric vessels, which leads to difficulty in determining the optimal operative procedure and the extent of lymph node dissection. We present the case of a patient with transverse colon cancer who underwent laparoscopic surgery after preoperative assessment using a combination of endoscopic clipping and three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (3DCTA). A 68-year-old man was diagnosed with transverse colon cancer, and laparoscopic surgery has been planned. 3DCTA showed right-middle and left-middle colic arteries arising independently from the superior mesenteric artery. The relationship between the clip and vessels showed that the right-middle colic artery was the feeding artery of the tumor. Operative findings were consistent with 3DCTA findings, and transverse colectomy with lymph node dissection was successfully performed.