Preliminary report on prospective, multicenter, open research of selective surgery after expandable stent combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of obstructive left hemicolon cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the safety and feasibility of neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior elective surgery following self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) for complete obstructive left hemicolon cancer.@*METHODS@#This prospective, multicenter, open-labelled trial was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University(2016-ke-161-1) and registered in Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02972541).@*INCLUSION CRITERIA@#(1)age between 18 and 75 years old;(2) adenocarcinoma confirmed by pathology;(3) left hemicolon cancer confirmed by clinical manifestations and imaging examinations with the distance to anal verge > 15 cm; (4) resectable cancer evaluated by imaging examination without distant metastasis; (5) Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score ≤ 1 or Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) > 70, indicating tolerance of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and operation; (6) absence of chemotherapy or radiotherapy within past six months; (7) bone marrow system and hepatorenal function: hemoglobin ≥ 90 g/L, neutrophil ≥ 1.5×10/L, platelet ≥ 80×10/L, total bilirubin ≤ 1.5×ULN(upper limits of normal), serum transaminase ≤ 2.5×ULN, serum creatinine ≤ 1.0×ULN, endogenous creatinine clearance rate > 50 ml/min; (8) sign for informed consent.@*EXCLUSION CRITERIA@#(1) multiple primary colorectal cancer; (2) rejection of operation;(3) presenting peritonitis or bowel perforation before SEMS; (4) unqualified conditions proved by inspector from registration data. According to inclusion criteria, 62 consecutive patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to elective surgery following SEMS for complete obstructive left hemicolon cancer from Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University (n=31), Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (n=14), the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (n=13), Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University (n=2), the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University (n=2) between December 2015 and December 2017 were prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and elective surgery group according to the investigator's clinical experience and patient's preference. Patients in the elective surgery group received surgery within one to two weeks after SEMS placement without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Those in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group received 2 cycles of CapeOX or 3 cycles of mFOLFOX6 neoadjuvant chemotherapy within one to two weeks after SEMS placement, and then underwent surgery within 3 weeks after finishing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Data between groups were compared using Student t-test, chi-square analysis or Fisher exact test analysis, including basic clinical informations, operational conditions and postoperative complications. The adverse reactions during the neoadjuvant chemotherapy were recorded. Surgical difficulty was assessed using visual analog scales ranging from 1 to 10, where 1 represented the lowest and 10 the highest degree of surgical difficulty, as judged by the surgeon.@*RESULTS@#The study included 38 males and 24 females with mean age of (64.8±8.8) years. The clinical baseline data between 2 groups were not significantly different (all P>0.05) except the average time interval between SEMS and surgery was significantly longer in neoadjuvant chemotherapy group [(61.6±13.5) days vs. (10.4±5.2) days, t=16.679, P0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior elective surgery following SEMS is a relatively safe and feasible approach in the treatment for obstructive left hemicolon cancer, and is associated with less stoma, more laparoscopic surgery, shorter operative time, less blood loss, lower surgical difficulty, and faster postoperative recovery as compared with conventional elective surgery.

Application of modified purse-string closure in the wound following loop stoma reversal / 中华胃肠外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the safety and feasibility between modified circumferential purse-string closure and conventional primary linear closure of the wound following loop stoma reversal.@*METHODS@#Clinical data of 88 consecutive patients who underwent loop colostomy or loop ileostomy closures at our hospital from July 2011 to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 43 cases underwent modified purse-string technique (modified purse-string group), 45 cases underwent direct suture (direct suture group). The operation method of modified purse-string suture was as follows: (1) the circumferential subcutaneous adipose tissue was sutured with the absorbable suture, avoiding tightening at knotting and retaining a 1 cm pore;(2)absorbable suture was used to perform purse-string suture of the dermis, retaining a 0.5 cm central pore when knotting; (3) a rubber drain was placed through the pore. The clinical parameters, surgical results and postoperative complication of two groups were recorded and compared.@*RESULTS@#There were 56 males and 32 females with age of (65.0±11.5) years old. Seventy-nine cases were malignant tumors, 6 were benign tumors and 3 were traumatic. There was no significant difference in the baseline data between two groups (all P>0.05). Compared with the direct suture group, the modified purse-string group had significantly lower wound infection rate [7.0%(3/43) vs. 24.4%(11/45), χ²=5.015, P=0.025]; significantly shorter postoperative hospital stay (mean 7.1 days vs. 8.6 days, t=-2.656, P=0.010); significantly lower total hospitalization costs (mean 25 668.4 yuan vs. 27 718.1 yuan, t=-2.488, P=0.015); however, the wound healing time of the modified purse-string group was significantly longer (mean 22.0 days vs. 13.0 days, t=5.701, P<0.001). The average healing time of the wounds in the direct suture group was 29.8 days, which was significantly longer than that of the first-stage healing cases (7.5 days, t=-15.446,P<0.001). The average wound healing time of the infected cases in the modified purse-string suture group was 22.0 days, compared with 22.1 days in the first-stage healing cases, the difference was not statistically significant(t=0.077,P=0.943).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Modified purse-string closure after loop stoma reversal is an appropriate technique with lower stoma site infection rate, shorter postoperative hospital stay and lower hospitalization cost than conventional primary closure, although wounds may take longer to heal in this approach.

Application value of biological mesh in the pelvic floor reconstruction of extralevator abdominoperineal excision for advanced low rectal cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate the application value of biological mesh in the pelvic floor reconstruction of extralevator abdominoperineal excision (ELAPE) for advanced low rectal cancer (RC).Methods The retrospective cohort study was conducted.The clinicopathological data of 228 patients with advanced low RC who underwent ELAPE in the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University between August 2008 and December 2016 were collected.Of 228 patients,174 using biological mesh closure and 54 using primary closure were respectively allocated into the biological mesh group and primary closure group.Observation indicators:(1)intra-and post-operative situations;(2) postoperative complications (including short-term and long-term complications);(3) follow-up and survival situations.Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was performed to detect postoperative long-term complications,tumor recurrence or metastasis and overall survival up to December,2017.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as（ x） ±s,and comparison between groups was analyzed using the independent-sample t test.Measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M (range),and comparison between groups was analyzed using the nonparametric test.Comparisons of count data were evaluated by the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.Results (1)Intra-and post-operative situations:all the patients underwent successful ELAPE.The perineal operation time,time of indwelling perineal drainage-tube and hospital expenses were respectively (60 ± 50)minutes,(11.6 ± 2.4) days,(57 781± 11 337) yuan in the biological mesh group and (50±21) minutes,(8.9± 1.7) days,(53 714± 13 395)yuan in the primary closure group,with statistically significant differences between groups (t =3.327,7.691,-2.203,P＜0.05).The total operation time and duration of postoperative hospital stay were respectively (242±53) minutes,(13.0±5.0) days in the biological mesh group and (228±51) minutes,(12.0±5.0) days in the primary closure group,with no statistically significant difference between groups (t =1.701,1.309,P＞0.05).(2) Postoperative complications:26 and 19 patients in the biological mesh group and primary closure group had respectively perineal wound complications (1 patient combined with multiple complications),showing a statistically significant difference between groups (x2 =10.660,P＜0.05).The perineal wound infection,perineal hernia and disruption of perineal wound were respectively detected in 20,6,1 patients in the biological mesh group and 12,7,3 patients in the primary closure group,showing statistically significant differences between groups (x2 =3.931,5.282,P＜0.05).(3) Follow-up and survival situations:174 patients in the biological mesh group were followed up for 64 months (range,13-112 months),and 54 patients in the primary closure group were followed up for 51 months (range,23-76 months).The local recurrence rate,distal metastasis rate and overall survival rate were respectively 5.17％ (9/174),20.11％ (35/174),77.59％ (135/174) in the biological mesh group and 7.41％(4/54),24.07％(13/54),79.63％(43/54) in the primary closure group,with no statistically significant difference between groups (x2 =0.080,0.389,0.101,P＞0.05).Conclusions The biological mesh in the pelvic floor reconstruction of ELAPE for advanced low RC is safe and feasible.Compared with primary closure,biological mesh closure will extend perineal operation time and time of indwelling perineal drainage-tube,and increase hospital expenses,but doesn't affect total operation time and duration of postoperative hospital stay,meanwhile,it can also reduce the overall perineal wound complications,especially in perineal wound infection,perineal hernia and disruption of perineal wound.

Therapeutic evaluation and surgical strategy after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer could significantly reduce the tumor stage, improve the radical resection and increase the overall survival rate of the patients. Recently researches reported that patients who acquired complete response after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy might accept "wait and see" strategy or local excision and could earn promising long-term outcomes as those accepted radical surgery. The diagnostic criteria and efficacy of tumor response for chemoradiotherapy are insufficient and controversial. Moreover, clinical practice showed that chemoradiotherapy-related surgical complications, including anastomotic leakage, incision complications and colon stricture, remarkably increased, so the benefits and risks of patients should be reconsidered further in choosing the surgical strategies after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.