Study	Reason for exclusion
Basse 2003	RCT on gastrointestinal recovery after laparoscopic versus open colonic resection (n=32). Includes also patients with benign disease. No follow‐up.
Basse 2005	RCT on functional recovery after laparoscopic versus open colonic resection (n=60). Includes also patients with benign disease. No follow‐up.
Bohm 1999	RCT on liver and renal function after laparoscopic compared to open colorectal resection for cancer. No follow‐up.
Braga 2002 a	RCT on short‐term outcome after laparoscopic vs open colorectal resection for cancer. Patients are also included in Brage 2005.
Braga 2002 b	RCT on immune responses and metabolism in laparoscopic versus open colorectal surgery (n=79). No follow‐up.
Danelli 2002	RCT on temperature control and recovery of bowel function after laparoscopic and conventional colorectal surgery (n=44). No follow‐up. Includes also benign disease, no separate data for cancer resections.
Delgado 2001	RCT on acute phase responses before and after laparoscopic versus open colectomy for cancer (n=97). No follow‐up.
Guillou 2005	did not describe any of the long‐term outcomes sought in this analysis or because patients were also included in another article or ongoing trial
Hewitt 1998	RCT on immune responses in laparoscopic‐assisted versus open surgery for colorectal cancer (n=25). No follow‐up.
Hildebrandt 2003	RCT on stress responses in laparoscopic and open colonic resections (n=42). Includes also patients with benign disease. No follow‐up.
Hu 2003	RCT on immune responses in laparoscopic versus open total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer (n=45). Patients were enrolled as part of the trail Zhou 2004. No follow‐up.
Janson 2004	RCT on the costs of laparoscopic versus open surgery for colonic cancer (n=210). Only data on costs are given. Patients were enrolled as part of the COLOR trial.
Jayne 2005	RCT on bladder and sexual function following laparoscopic‐assisted versus open colorectal resection for cancer. Patients were enrolled as part of the CLASICC trial.
Kang 2004	RCT on perioperative and short‐term results in laparoscopic versus open colectomy (n=60). Includes also patients with benign disease. No follow‐up.
Kim 1998	RCT on spillage of tumour cells in the peritoneal cavity during laparoscopic versus conventional surgery for colorectal cancer (n=38). No follow‐up.
Lacy 1995	RCT on laparoscopic versus open colectomy for colon cancer. Preliminary short‐term results of the trial Lacy 2002. Data and patients are also included in Lacy 2002. No follow‐up.
Lacy 1998	RCT on port‐site metastases and recurrences after laparoscopic‐assisted versus open colectomy for cancer (n=91). Data and patients are also included in Lacy 2002.
Leung 2000	RCT on systemic cytokine responses after laparoscopic‐assisted versus open resection of rectosigmoid carcinoma (n=34). No follow‐up.
Leung 2003	RCT on immune responses after laparoscopically‐assisted versus open resection of rectosigmoid carcinoma (n=40). No follow‐up.
Neudecker 2002	RCT on peritoneal fibrinolytic capacity after laparoscopic and conventional colorectal resection for cancer (n=30) No follow‐up. Patients were enrolled as part of the LAPKON II trial.
Neudecker 2003	RCT on intravasal fibrinolytic activity after laparoscopic and conventional colorectal resection for cancer (n=30). No follow‐up. Patients were enrolled as part of the LAPKON II trial.
Neudecker 2005	RCT on fibrinolytic capacity after laparoscopic and conventional colorectal surgery for cancer (n=30). No follow‐up. Patients were enrolled as part of the LAPKON II trial.
Ordemann 2001	RCT on inflammatory responses after laparoscopic versus conventional colorectal resections for cancer (n=40). No follow‐up.
Ortiz 1996	RCT on early oral feeding after laparoscopic versus open colonic resections (n=40). Includes also patients with benign disease. No follow‐up.
Schwenk 1998 a	RCT on postoperative ileus after laparoscopic compared to open colorectal resection for cancer (n=60). No follow‐up. Data and patients are included in Schwenk 2002.
Schwenk 1998 b	RCT on pain and fatique after laparoscopic compare to open colorectal resection for cancer (n=60). No follow‐up. Data and patients are also included in Schwenk 2002.
Schwenk 1998 c	RCT on quality of life after laparoscopic compared to open colorectal resection for cancer (n=60). No follow‐up. Data and patients are also included in Schwenk 2002.
Schwenk 1999	RCT on pulmonary function after laparoscopic compared to open colorectal resection for cancer (n=60). No follow‐up. Data and patients are also included in Schwenk 2002.
Schwenk 2002	RCT on short‐term outcome after laparoscopic compared to open colorectal resection for cancer (n=102). No follow‐up.
Stage 1997	RCT on short‐term outcome, immunologic parameters and pathological evaluation of the resected specimen after laparoscopic compared to open surgery for cancer (n=34). No follow‐up.
Tang 2001	RCT on systemic immunity in patients undergoing laparoscopically‐assisted versus open colectomy for colorectal cancer (n=236). No follow‐up.
Weeks 2002	RCT on quality‐of‐life after laparoscopic‐assisted colectomy versus open colectomy for colon cancer (n=428). Only data on quality‐of‐life, pain and hospital stay are given. Patients were enrolled as part of the COST trial.
Wu 2003	RCT on peritoneal and systemic immune responses after laparoscopic compared to open surgery for colon cancer (n=26). No follow‐up. Patients were enrolled as part of the COLOR trial.
Wu 2004	RCT on local and systemic angiogenic responses after laparoscopic compared to open surgery for colon cancer (n=26). No follow‐up Patients were enrolled as part of the COLOR trial.