Complete Mesocolic Excision With Central Vascular Ligation Produces an Oncologically Superior Specimen Compared With Standard Surgery for Carcinoma of the Colon

The fresh photographs of 49 CME and CVL specimens from Erlangen and 40 standard specimens from Leeds, United Kingdom, for primary colonic adenocarcinoma were collected. Precise tissue morphometry and grading of the plane of surgery were performed before comparison to histopathologic variables.

CME and CVL surgery removed more tissue compared with standard surgery in terms of the distance between the tumor and the high vascular tie (median, 131 v 90 mm; P