The experience of the surgeon who is performing the operation has been identified as a critical factor in the successful treatment of colon cancer using laparoscopic surgery. According to the recently released COST Study, the surgeon performing the procedure should meet a specific standard of experience in order for the success rate to be comparable to traditional surgery.

In fact, these two factors: the surgeon's experience and the confinement of the patient's cancer to the colon form the basis for the advisability of laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of colon cancer.

Colorectal surgery is a focal point of services at Surgical Associates. Dr. Craig Johnson, a specialist in colorectal surgery, heads the Surgical Associates team in this important subspecialty. Dr. Johnson is the only surgeon in this region who meets the criteria set out in the COST Study. He has performed hundreds of laparoscopic-assisted colon surgeries including:

• Segmental Colon Resection
• Low Anterior Resection
• Abdominal Perineal Resection
• Proctocolectomy with Ileal J-Pouch
• Resection and Rectopoxy for Rectal Prolapse
• Stricturoplasty for Crohn's Disease

Dr. Johnson earned his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and received his general surgery training at the OU College of Medicine in Tulsa. He completed a fellowship in colorectal surgery at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Dr. Johnson is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is a member of the American Medical Association, Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, and The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.