Variation in the length of terminal ileum specimen in right hemicolectomy: a descriptive study

Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the length of the bowel specimen and to assess if the length was affected by certain characteristics. Methods: Eligible patients were adults who had undergone right hemicolectomy for cancer in caecum, appendix, ascending colon or transverse colon from September 2019 to September 2020 at Herlev Hospital, Denmark. Data were collected from medical records. The primary outcome was the length of the resected terminal ileum. Secondary outcomes were to assess if body mass index (BMI), surgical approach, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy affected the length of the terminal ileum specimen, and to report the length of the colon specimen subdivided on the cancer locations. Results: In total, 50 patients were included. The median age was 74 years (range 36–91), 30 patients (60%) were females, and BMI was median 26 (range 17–45). The variation in the length of terminal ileum specimen was median 5 cm (range 1–17). The explorative analyses showed significant positive correlation between the length of terminal ileum specimen and BMI (P = 0.050) but not surgical approach (P = 0.23) nor neoadjuvant chemotherapy (P = 0.51). The length of the colon specimen naturally differed according to the cancer location with a median length of 26 cm (range 14–90). Conclusion: We found a variation in the length of the terminal ileum specimen without an apparent explanation for this variation. The colon specimen also varied naturally according to cancer location.