Purpose: The objective of this study was to quantify the risk of conversion to open surgery of laparoscopic left hemicolectomy at an early stage of the learning curve.
Methods: A multiple logistic regression analysis of 100 laparoscopic left hemicolectomies completed between April 2001 and May 2004 was performed.
Results: The overall conversion rate was 12%. At univariate analysis, 2 factors were found to be predictive of conversion to open surgery: malignancy (17.2% vs. 5%; P=0.046), and weight level (<60 kg=6.1%; 60 to 90 kg=11.3%; >90 kg=28.6%; P=0.049). At multiple logistic regression, the risk of conversion rose only for patients weighing more than 90 kg.
Conclusions: On the basis of the results of this study, the surgeon will be able to quantify the risk of conversion to laparotomy with some precision in order to obtain the informed consent of the first 100 patients to whom laparoscopic left hemicolectomy is proposed.