RESUMEN
Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of laparoscope-assisted transanal total mesorectal excision (La-TaTME) for middle-low rectal cancer.Methods The retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted.The clinical data of 16 patients with middle-low rectal cancer who underwent La-TaTME in the Peking University Third Hospital from August 2015 to August 2016 were collected.Sequential surgery of La-TaTME was applied to patients in the same team,with laparoscopic surgery first and then transanal surgery.Observation indicators:(1) operation and postoperative recovery situations:conversion to open surgery,anastomosis method,operation time,volume of intraoperative blood loss,intraoperative complications,time for out-of-bed activity,time for liquid diet intake,postoperative complications and duration of postoperative hospital stay.(2) postoperative pathological situations:length of surgical specimen,tumor diameter,distance from tumor to resected distant intestinal canal,complete degree of mesorectum,circumferential resection margin,pathological T stage,pathological N stage,number of lymph node detected and tumor cell differentiation.(3) follow-up.Patients in stage Ⅲ-ⅣV of TNM stage of RC underwent postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.Follow-up using outpatient examination was performed once every 3 months postoperatively to detect the patients' survival and tumor recurrence up to December 2016.Measurement data were represented as M (range).Results (1) Operation and postoperative recovery situations:all the 16 patients underwent successful La-TaTME without conversion to open surgery,including 10 with colorectal anastomosis,3 with colon-canalis analis anastomosis and 3 with permanent colostomy.Operation time and volume of intraoperative blood loss were 290 minutes (range,215-420 minutes) and 50 mL (range,30-100 mL),respectively.One patient had intraoperative complication,showing broken ends ischemia of sigmoid colon after dragging out resected rectum from the anus,following free splenic flexure of colon,about 5 cm ischemic sigmoid colon were resected,and descending colon-rectum anastomosis was performed.Time for out-of-bed activity and time for liquid diet intake were 1 days (range,1-3 days) and 2 days (range,1-9 days),respectively.Among 3 patients with postoperative complications (Ⅱ stage of ClavienDindo),2 with incomplete intestinal obstruction were improved by gastrointestinal decompression and total parenteral nutrition,and 1 with presacral infection was improved by drainage and antibiotic therapy.Duration of postoperative hospital stay was 7 days (range,5-21 days).(2) Postoperative pathological situations:length of surgecal specimen,tumor diameter and distance from tumor to resected distant intestinal canal were respectively 18.0 cm (range,12.0-24.0 cm),3.5 cm (range,0.5-6.8 cm) and 2.5 cm (range,1.0-5.0 cm).Evaluation of mesorectum of surgical specimen:14 patients had complete mesorectum of surgical specimen and 2 had nearly complete mesorectum.There was no residual tumor at circumferential resection margin,proximal and distal ends.Pathological T stage of 16 patients:T0 (pathological complete response after neoadjuvant therapy),T1,T2 and T3 stages were found in 1,1,4 and 10 patients,respectively.Pathological N stage:12,2 and 2 patients were detected in N0,N1 and N2 stages,respectively.Number of lymph node detected was 16 (range,6-32).Tumor cell differentiation:no tumor cell (pathological complete response after neoadjuvant therapy),high-,moderateand low-differentiated tumors were respectively detected in 1,2,7 and 6 patients.(3) Follow-up.All the patients were followed up for 12 months (range,4-16 months).There were no local tumor recurrence or distant metastasis and death.Conclusion La-TaTME may be a new,safe and effective resection for middle-low rectal cancer.