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Serbian National Training Programme for minimally invasive colorectal surgery (LapSerb): short-term clinical outcomes of over 1400 colorectal resections

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Abstract

Introduction

The Serbian National Training Programme for minimally invasive colorectal surgery (LapSerb) was introduced to implement laparoscopic colorectal surgery across Serbia. The programme aimed to accelerate training of established colorectal surgeons through a competency-based programme. This involved knowledge assessment, workshops, live operating, and competency-based assessment of unedited videos. The aim of this study is to report the outcomes of laparoscopic colorectal resection performed by LapSerb certified surgeons.

Methods

LapSerb prospectively maintained multicentred database was analysed for laparoscopic colorectal resections from January 2015 to February 2021. Data collected included patient demographics, indications for surgery, perioperative data, and 30-day outcomes.

Results

A total of 1456 laparoscopic colectomies by 24 certified surgeons were included in the final analysis. Mean age was 67 (± 12) years old and male to female ratio was 1:1.5. 83.1% of the colectomies were malignant, mainly due to adenocarcinoma. Anterior resection was the most common procedure with 699 (48%) cases, followed by right and left colectomies with 357 (24.5%) and 303 (21%) procedure respectively. 4.8% of patients required conversion to open surgery. Thirty-day readmission and reoperation rates were 2.3% and 4.7%, respectively. Overall mortality in all cases was 1.1% and R0 resections were achieved in 97.8% of malignant colectomies.

Conclusion

The LapSerb programme successfully and safely established laparoscopic colorectal surgery across the country with comparable and acceptable short-term clinical outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks and appreciations to LapSerb Collaborative; Pavlov M, Latincic S, Vasiljevic J, Spica B, Gunjic D, Tesic N, Bacevic R, Maric S, Resanovic A, Milev B, Neskovic B, Slavkovic D, Dragovic S, Kenić M, Janic M, Veljanovic O, Maricic A, Stojanovic N, Popovic I, Jovanovic V, Zunjic S, Lazarevic J, Arpad K, Mrksic M, Tamas K, Andras K, Lehel B, Vasic D, Ivanovic P, Stojkovic V, Ivanovic A, Ivanov D, Korica M, Stanojevic M, Tosovic G, Tosovic D, Obucina S, Varnicic V, Golubovic A, Milacević T, Djokovic V, Milosavljevic I, Sutic P, Lazic A, Dabic D, Zarev I, Kosanin Z, Ljubisavljevic R, Kosanovic D, Zaric S, Stojiljkovic M, Zdravkovic R, Petrovic L, Lazarevic M, Djenadic J, Mihajlov V, Ognjenovic A, Popov D, Filko R.

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CM and AG equally share the contribution to the first authorship of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ahmed Gendia.

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Ceranic Miljan, Ahmed Gendia,Masood UR Rehman, Djukanovic Blagoje, Janic Mladen, Krdzic Igor, Stojakovic Nebojsa,Gluhovic Aleksandar, Loncar Zlatibor, Jamil Ahmed, Parvaiz Amjad have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Miljan, C., Gendia, A., Rehman, M.U.R. et al. Serbian National Training Programme for minimally invasive colorectal surgery (LapSerb): short-term clinical outcomes of over 1400 colorectal resections. Surg Endosc 37, 2943–2948 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-022-09795-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-022-09795-6

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