Sealed Orifice Laparoscopic or Endoscopic (SOLE) Surgery: technology and technique convergence for next-step colorectal surgery.

The new avenue of minimally invasive surgery, referred to as single-incision/access laparoscopy, is often presented as an alternative to standard multiport approaches, whereas in fact it is more usefully perceived as a complementary modality. The emergence of the technique can be of greater use both to patients and to the colorectal specialty if its principles can be merged into next-stage evolution by synergy with more conventional practice. In particular, rather than device specificity, what is needed is convergence of capability that can be applied by the same surgeon in differing scenarios depending on the individualized patient and disease characteristics. We detail here the global applicability of a simple access device construct that allows the provision of simple and complex single-port laparoscopy as well as contributing to multiport laparoscopic and transanal resections in a manner that is reliable, reproducible, ergonomical and economical.