ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical effect and prognosis of laparoscopic complete mesocolic resection (CME) in the treatment of elderly patients with stage Ⅲ right colon cancer.MethodsClinical data of 280 elderly patients (aged 60 years or older) who underwent stage Ⅲ right hemicolectomy in the First Hospital of Lanzhou University from 2010 to 2015 were collected. Among them, 160 patients underwent laparoscopic CME treatment were set as the observation group, and 120 patients underwent conventional laparotomy were set as the control group. The mean operative time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative first anal exhaust time, number of lymph nodes dissection, number of positive lymph nodes, length of hospital stay and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. The postoperative local recurrence rate, distant metastasis rate, 3-year cumulative survival rate and postoperative recurrence risk factors were analyzed.ResultsThere were no statistically significant differences between the observation group and the control group in operative time, number of lymph node dissection, number of positive lymph nodes and postoperative distant metastasis rate (P>0.05). The amount of intraoperative blood loss, postoperative anal first exhaust time, days of hospitalization, and postoperative recurrence rate in the observation group were less or shorter or lower than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). The 3-year survival rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (log-rank χ2 =11.865, P=0.001), and the disease free survival in the observation group was also higher than that in the control group (log-rank χ2=7.567, P=0.006). Logistic regression was used to analyze the cases of postoperative recurrence in the two groups, and it was found that the degree of tumor differentiation, vascular invasion and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for postoperative tumor recurrence.ConclusionLaparoscopic CME in the treatment of elderly patients with stage Ⅲ right colon cancer is effective, it is safe and feasible, which can effectively prolong the survival time of patients.