Patient mood and neuropsychological outcome after laparoscopic and conventional colectomy

The study was designed to compare patients after laparoscopic and conventional colectomy with regard to early postoperative mood, cognitive function, and neurocognitive variables S100β and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). Forty-five laparoscopic and 25 open colectomies were enrolled into the prospective study. Outcome measurements were positive and negative postoperative mood (BSKE), neuropsychological tests (Trail-Making Test; word reproduction; Stroop Test), and serum biochemical parameters (S100β NSE). Following laparoscopic procedure, patients described significantly better positive mood (P ≤ .05), tended to require less time in the Trail-Making Test and Stroop Test, and had lower postoperative serum concentrations of S100β compared to conventional colectomy patients (P ≤ .01). The current results revealed several group differences, which, in their entirety, seem to represent a more beneficial outcome after laparoscopic colonic surgery.