**1. Introduction**

Cancer of the colon is the third most common cancer in men and women in the developed world, and resection is the only curative treatment. Traditionally, cancers of the colon were removed through large abdominal incisions. The first report on laparoscopic right colectomy appeared in 1991 [1], since then a large number of studies was performed to define technical and oncological safety of the laparoscopic approach. However, reports of tumor recurrence at the port sites after laparoscopic resection for colon cancer have questioned the oncological safety of mini-invasive approach in patients with bowel cancer. In 2008, the Colon Cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection Study Group carried out a randomized clinical trial, with the primary end point being disease-free survival at 3 years after laparoscopic and open surgery for colon cancer. The results showed no differences in disease-free survival and overall survival between the two groups; moreover, no differences in tumor recurrence were reported [2].

A large number of subsequent randomized and non-randomized studies confirmed the short-term advantages of laparoscopy as compared to traditional treatment in terms of cosmesis, pain control, bowel function, postoperative morbidity, and hospital stay. Long-term follow-up data provided by the CLASSIC and COLOR trials showed comparable outcomes between open and laparoscopic surgery in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival [3].

From a technical point of view, various operative factors - such as extent of resection, number of lymph nodes sampled, length of bowel and mesentery resected, and bowel margins – do not differ significantly between patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery and those who underwent open colectomy. With regards to intra-abdominal staging accuracy, laparoscopy allied with solid-organ imaging offers adequate staging information [4].

Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy is currently considered the standard of care in benign and malignant right colon disease [2].

This chapter describes the technique for laparoscopic right colectomy technique, with a focus on ileo-colic anastomosis, highlighting the differences between intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomosis fashions in terms of clinical outcome and surgical safety.
