Long-term efficacy of pure transanal total mesorectal excision for middle-low rectal cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate the long-term efficacy of pure transanal total mesorectal excision (PtaTME) for middle-low rectal cancer.Methods The retrospective descriptive study was conducted.The clinicopathological data of 18 patients with middle-low rectal cancer who were admitted to the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from July 2014 to August 2016 were collected.There were 7 males and 11 females,aged (58±13) years,with a range from 40 to 84 years.The body mass index was (22±3) kg/m2.All the 18 patients underwent PtaTME.Observation indicators:(1) surgical and postoperative conditions;(2) postoperative pathological examination;(3) follow-up and survival.Follow-up using inpatient reexamination,outpatient examination,and telephone interview were performed to detect anastomotic complications,anal function,urinary retention,sexual dysfunction,survival and tumor recurrence and metastasis once every 3 months within postoperative 6 months,once every 6 months from 6 months to 3 years,and once a year after 3 years up to June 2019.The measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD,and the measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range).Count data were expressed as percentages.Survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method.Results (1) Surgical and postoperative conditions:18 patients successfully underwent PtaTME,without conversion to open surgery.The operation time,volume of intraoperative blood loss,distance between anastomosis and anal verge,time to first flatus,time to urinary catheter removal,and duration of postoperative hospital stay were (202±68) minutes,50 mL (range,20-400 mL),(4.5± 2.0)cm,2 days (range,2-7 days),3 days (range,2-5 days),and 7 days (range,5-10 days) in the 18 patients,respectively.There was no perioperative complication.Among 18 patients,4 underwent preventive ileostomy.(2) Postoperative pathological examinations:the length of surgical specimens,the number of lymph node dissection,distance from tumor to the distal margin were (11.0±3.0)cm,12±6,and 1.0 cm (range,0.8-3.7 cm),respectively.The 18 patients had complete mesorectal membrane excision,with negative proximal margin,distal margin,and circumferential margin.Tumor pathological staging:there were 2 cases in Tis stage,4 in T1 stage,7 in T2 stage,and 5 in T3 stage;16 in N0 stage,1 in N1 stage,and 1 in N2 stage.Tumor histological classification:2 patients had carcinoma in situ,9 had moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma,and 7 had high-differentiated adenocarcinoma.(3) Follow-up and survival:18 patients were followed up for 34.0-59.0 months,with a median follow-up time of 57.5 months.During the follow-up,4 patients developed grade B anastomotic leakage and were cured after conservative treatment.One patient developed anastomotic recurrence at 2 years after surgery,and no recurrence was found after surgical resection of the recurrent lesion.Four patients with prophylactic ileostomy had the stoma closured,and the anus function was satisfactory after surgery.There was no urinary retention or sexual dysfunction in the 18 patients.Of the 18 patients,17 had tumor free survival after surgery.The 3-year disease-free survival rate was 94.4％,and the 3-year overall survival rate was 100.0％ in 18 patients.Conclusion PtaTME can achieve high quality of specimen,which is safe and feasible for the treatment of rectal cancer.

Establishment of transanal total mesorectal excision training system / 中华消化外科杂志

Transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) is a hot topic in the field of colorectal surgery.After nearly ten years of development,it has entered a period of rapid development.Due to the difference between the traditional surgical approach and the previous one,more sufficient preconditions are needed to carry out TaTME cautiously.Therefore,systematic and stan-dardized training is indispensable.Compared with the mature foreign cadaver training courses,the domestic cadaver training is limited,while the traditional laparoscopic animal training model has limited effects on the training of transanal endoscopic surgery.Therefore,how to use the existing domestic conditions to build a training system suitable for Chinese national conditions,so as to standardize the implementation of transanal total mesorectal excision,improve the safety of new technologies,has become an urgent problem to be solved.This article has reviewed deve-lopment history of TaTME training and investigated establishment of TaTME training system,intending to provide references for standardization of TaTME.

Transanal lateral lymph node dissection surgery for 5 cases of mid-low rectal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Objective@#To evaluate the feasibility and safety of transanal lateral lymph node dissection for mid-low rectal cancer.@*Methods@#A descriptive case series research method was used. Clinical and pathological data of 5 mid-low rectal cancer patients who underwent transanal lateral lymph node dissection at Department of Colorectal Surgery, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from November 2018 to May 2019 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Of 5 cases, 4 were male and 1 was female with mean age of (43.2±13.2) years and mean body mass index of (21.2±2.6) kg/m2; the mean diameter of tumor was (3.2±2.4) cm; the mean distance between tumor and anus was (6.3±2.5) cm; 3 received preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In preoperative TNM staging, 2 cases were T3N1M0, 1 was T3cN2aM0, 1 was T3cN2bM0, and 1 was T2N1M0. All the patients had no intestinal obstruction before operation. Surgical methods: (1) total mesorectal excision: using general transanal and transabdominal methods to mobilize and resect total mesorectum, and dissect No.252, No.253 lymph nodes; (2) transanal lateral lymph node dissection: dissect the adipose lymphoid tissue on the surface of the iliococcygeal muscle, the coccygeal muscle, and the obturator muscle (the No.283 lymph nodes) upward, and dissect No.263d and No.263p lymph nodes with fat tissue sequentially till the bifurcation of the internal and external iliac artery; (3) take out the specimen from anus, and make anastomosis between proximal colon and anal canal. Intraoperative and postoperative variables was observed.@*Results@#All the 5 patients completed surgery successfully, and no patient needed to convert to open approach. The mean operative time was (295.6±97.7) minutes, and the median intraoperative blood loss was 70 (50-500) ml. The mean length of specimen was (12.9±3.0) cm, and the mean number of harvested lymph node was 30.4±9.9. The positive lateral lymph nodes were founder in 4 patients. The median distance between tumor and distal resection margin was 1.5 (1.2-8.0) cm. The resection margin in all the patients was negative. The mean time to postoperative flatus was (4.2±1.6) days, the mean postoperative spontaneous urination was (3.0±1.9) days, time to drainage tube removal was (5.6±1.9) days, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was (9.4±2.1) days. The postoperative TNM staging by pathology was 1 case with T1N0M0, 1 with T2N1M0, 1 with T3N2bM0, and 2 with T3N2M0. Five patients were moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. Only 1 patient developed postoperative abdominal bleeding, who was healed after conservative treatment. The other 4 patients did not develop any perioperative complications, such as incision infection, presacral abscess, pelvic abscess, anastomotic leakage, or anastomotic stricture. Four patients underwent postoperative chemotherapy. All the patients were followed up for 2 to 28 weeks after surgery and they all felt well. The patients with stoma had fluent bowel.@*Conclusions@#Transanal lateral lymph node dissection is feasible and safe in the treatment of mid-low rectal cancer, which can achieve the purpose of extended radical resection of mid-low movement rectal cancer. Moreover, this procedure is a new method to treat rectal cancer patients with lateral lymph node metastasis.

The crucial techniques and anatomic markers in transanal total mesorectal excision / 中华胃肠外科杂志

Transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) for rectal cancer is a hot spot in the field of colorectal surgery in recent years, because this technique has the advantages of clear distal margin, early separation of tumor leision, in the treatment of low rectal cancer. However, this technique is not popularized yet, and there are only a few colorectal surgeons who have enough experience. This article shares the experience of taTME in our hospital, including the details of purse string suture, spiral dissection of rectum, and the anatomic markers of anterior and posterior of rectum, conjoined longitudinal muscle and capillary of pelvic nerves locating in pelvic fascia. We sum up the crucial techniques as transanal operation, single port endoscopic technique and mucosal surgical principle (from inside to outside and from bottom to top), aiming to help colorectal surgeons to grasp the essentials of the techniques with initial cases as soon as possible, and to shorten the learning curve, so that more and more patients can benefit.

Comparison of postoperative bowel function between patients undergoing transanal and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision / 中华胃肠外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the effects of transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (laparoscopic TME) on patients' postoperative long-term bowel function.@*METHODS@#A retrospective cohort study was used in this study. We analyzed the clinical data of 134 patients with locally advanced mid-low rectal cancer, who underwent transanal TME or laparoscopic TME in the TaLaR randomized controlled trial at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University from April 2016 to November 2017. Inclusion criteria included age of 18 to 80 years old, distance from tumor low margin to anal edge ≤10 cm, preoperative staging of T1-3NxM0, and single rectal adenocarcinoma. Exclusion criteria included local recurrence, distant metastases, abdominoperineal resection, unreduced stoma, new stoma, less than 1 year after protectomy or stoma reduction, or preoperative poor anal function or incontinence. Patients were divided into taTME group and laparoscopic TME group. The taTME group received hybrid transanal and transabdominal approach performed simultaneously. The effects of surgical procedures on postoperative bowel function were evaluated with LARS (low anterior resection syndrome) scale, where 0-20 was defined as " no LARS" , 21-29 as " minor LARS" , and 30-42 as " major LARS" . Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the risk factors associated with major LARS, with surgical approach as a pre-selected variate.@*RESULTS@#A total of 107 patients were included. Of the 54 patients in the taTME group, 35 were male, median age was 57.2 (26.0-77.0) years old, and 22 cases had a tumor less than 5 cm from anal verge. Of the 53 patients in the laparoscopic TME group, 35 were male, median age was 62.0 (33.0-73.0) years old, and 25 cases had a tumor less than 5 cm from anal verge. All baseline clinical data including age, gender, preoperative staging, and tumor height were comparable between the two groups (all P>0.05). All operations in both groups were performed successfully. The operation time, intra-operative blood loss, postoperative anastomotic complication, postoperative hospital stay were comparable between the two groups (all P>0.05), except for a lower diverting stoma rate in the taTME group [37.0% (20/54) vs. 64.2% (34/53), χ²=7.866, P=0.005]. Of the 107 patients, 27 (25.2%) had no LARS, 32 (29.9%) had minor LARS, and 48 (44.9%) had major LARS, after a median follow-up of 17.2 (12.1-30.4) months. No significant difference was found between the two groups in overall bowel function [major LARS: 48.1% (26/54) vs. 41.5% (22/53), Z=-0.994, P=0.320]. Compared with the laparoscopic TME group, the taTME group experienced worse clustering of stools [68.5% (37/54) vs. 45.3% (24/53), Z=-2.354, P=0.019]. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gas incontinence, liquid stool incontinence, frequency of defecation, and urgency (all P>0.05). Multivariate analysis identified preoperative radiotherapy (OR=5.073, 95% CI: 1.336 to 19.259, P=0.017) and anastomotic height (OR=3.633, 95% CI: 1.501 to 8.802, P=0.004) as independent risk factors for major LARS, but no impact of taTME on LARS (OR=1.442, 95% CI: 0.638 to 3.261, P=0.379).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Compared with laparoscopic TME, taTME has similar outcomes of postoperative long-term bowel function. Preoperative radiotherapy and anastomotic height, but not surgical approach, are independent risk factors for postoperative bowel function.

Efficacies of transanal total mesorectal excision and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To compare the clinical efficacies of transanal total mesorectal excision(TaTME) and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision (LapTME)for rectal cancer (RC).Methods The case-control matching method and retrospective cohort study were conducted.The clinicopathological data of 100 RC patients who were admitted to the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between July 2014 and January 2016 were collected.Of 100 patients,50 undergoing TaTME and 50 undergoing LapTME were respectively allocated into the TaTME and LapTME groups by case-control matching method.Observation indicators:(1) operation situations:operation time,volume of intraoperative blood loss,cases with intraoperative complications and preventive stoma;(2) postoperative recovery:time for diet intake,time for out-of-bed activity,occurrence of complications within 30 days postoperatively and duration of hospital stay;(3) postoperative pathological examinations:postoperative pathological specimen length,number of lymph node harvest,distance from lower boundary of tumor to distant margin and cases with positive circumferential margin;(4) follow-up.Follow-up using outpatient examination and network tracing was performed to detect local tumor recurrence and distant metastasis up to December 2016.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as x±s and comparison between groups was analyzed using the paired-samples t test.Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range).Comparisons of count data were analyzed using the chi-square test.Comparisons of measurement data with skewed distribution and ranked data were done by the nonparametric test.Results (1) Operation situations:operation time,volume of intraoperative blood loss,cases with intraoperative complications and preventive stoma were (259±111)minutes,100 mL (range,20-2 000 mL),2,28 in the TaTME group and (220± 80)minutes,50 mL (range,20-1 000 mL),1,33 in the LapTME group,respectively,with no statistically significant difference (t=1.90,Z=-0.30,x2 =0.34,0.01,P＞0.05).(2) Postoperative recovery:time for diet intake and time for out-of-bed activity were (1.6±0.5) days,(2.6±0.6) days in the TaTME group and (2.4±0.5)days,(3.5 ±0.6)days in the LapTME group,respectively,with statistically significant differences (t =8.90,11.30,P＜0.05).Cases with anastomotic fistula,bleeding and stenosis,intestinal obstruction,abdominal abscess and wound infection within 30 days postoperatively were 6,1,1,0,1,0 in the TaTME group and 5,1,2,2,1,2 in the LapTME group,respectively,with no statistically significant difference (x2=0.10,0.00,0.30,2.00,0.00,2.00,P＞0.05).Cases with urinary retention within 30 days postoperatively were 3 and 0 in the TaTME and LapTME groups,respectively,with a statistically significant difference (x2 =3.00,P＜0.05).Two and 2 patients with anastomic fistula underwent reoperation in the TaTME and LapTME groups respectively,and other patients were improved by symptomatic treatment.Duration of hospital stay was 7 days (range,5-36 days)and 8 days (range,6-29 days) in the TaTME and LapTME groups,respectively,with no statistically significant difference (Z =-0.90,P ＞ 0.05).(3) Postoperative pathological examinations:postoperative pathological specimen length,number of lymph node harvest,distance from lower boundary of tumor to distant margin and cases with positive circumferential margin were (11±3)cm,13±5,(1.3±0.7)cm,0 in the TaTME group and (12±3) cm,13±5,(1.3±0.7)cm,1 in the LapTME group,respectively,with no statistically significant difference (t=0.50,0.20,0.10,x2=1.00,P＞0.05).(4) Follow-up:100 patients were followed up for 9-27 months,with an average time of 18 months.During the follow-up,distant metastasis and local tumor recurrence were detected in 2,3 patients of TaTME group and in 2,2 patients of LapTME group,respectively,with no statistically significant difference (x2 =0.00,0.20,P＞0.05).Conclusions TaTME for RC is safe and feasible.Compared with LapTME,TaTME not only achieves identical pathological quality without increasing intra-and postoperative complications,but also benefits postoperative recovery of patients.

Clinical efficacy of unidirectional-loop caudal-medial approach for laparoscopic-assisted radical resection of right colon cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of unidirectional-loop caudal-medial approach for laparoscopic-assisted radical resection of right colon cancer.Methods The retrospective and descriptive study was performed.The clinical data of 37 patients who underwent laparoscopic-assisted radical resection of right colon cancer through unidirectional-loop caudal-medial approach at the Sixth Mfiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2015 to March 2016 were collected.Tumor-free principle was followed and unidirectional-loop caudal-medial approach was conducted.Observation indicators included:(1) surgical situations:operation time,volume of intraoperative blood loss,(2) postoperative recovery:time to initial anal exsufflation,time of draining tube removal,postoperative complications,duration of postoperative hospital stay,(3) postoperative pathological examination:number of lymph node dissection,number of positive lymph node,length of specimen,incision margin,tumor pathological staging and type,(4) follow-up.All the patients were followed up using outpatient examination and telephone interview up to June 2016.Measurement data with normal distribution were presented as x ± s and measurement data with skewed distribution were presented as average (range).Results (1) Surgical situations:37 patients received successful operation,without conversion to open surgery and perioperative death.Operation time and volume of intraoperative blood loss in 37 patients were (170 ± 50)minutes and 50 mL (range,20-300 mL).(2) Postoperative recovery:time to initial anal exsufflation,time of draining tube removal and average duration of postoperative hospital stay were (3.5 ± 1.0) days,(4.3 ± 1.1) days and 10 days (range,6-21 days),respectively.Two patients with postoperative wound liquefaction were improved by symptomatic treatment,and the other patients had no complication.(3) Postoperative pathological examination:number of lymph node dissection,number of positive lymph node,number of central lymph node dissection and length of specimen in 37 patients were 22 ±8,0 (range,0-6),6 ±5 and (32 ±9)cm,respectively,with negative incision margins.Postoperative tumor pathological staging showed that stage pT1,pT2,pT3 and pT4a were detected in 0,1,33 and 3 patients,and stage pN0,pN1 and pN2 in 23,12 and 2 patients,respectively.Postoperative tumor pathological type showed that 3,7,23 and 4 patients were respectively diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma,high-differentiated adenocarcinoma,moderate-differentiated adeno-carcinoma and low-differentiated adenocarcinoma.(4) Follow-up:37 patients were followed up for 3-17 months with a median time of 11 months.During the follow-up,1 patient was complicated with anastomotic recurrence and 4 with distant metastases,the other 32 patients had tumor-free survival.Conclusion Unidirectional-loop caudal-medial approach for laparoscopicassisted radical resection of right colon cancer is safe and feasible,with a good short-term outcome,and it should be widely spread.

Learning curve of transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the learning curve of transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) for rectal cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical data of 60 rectal cancer patients undergoing taTME from July 2014 to April 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the sequence of operation date, 60 patients were divided into four groups (A, B, C, D) with 15 cases in each group. General information and perioperative, especially the operative indexes were compared among four groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were no significant differences in age, sex, preoperative staging, BMI, tumor size among four groups (all P>0.05). The distance from tumor to anal verge in A group was(6.7±2.5) cm, which was significantly different with B group (4.6±1.2) cm, C group (4.5±1.0) cm and D group (4.0±1.0) cm (P=0.000, P=0.000, P=0.001). Ratio of receiving neoadjuvant therapy was 0, 60.0%(9 cases), 26.7%(4 cases) and 26.7%(4 cases) in A, B, C, D groups respectively with significant difference (P=0.004). Ratio of receiving complete taTME was 73.3%(11/15) in A group, 26.7%(4/15) in B group, 13.3%(2/15) in C group and 26.7%(4/15) in D group, while other patients underwent laparoscopy-assisted procedures. This ratio of A group was significantly higher as compared to B, C, D groups (P=0.003). The operation time was significantly different among four groups [A group (223.0±105.2) minutes, B group (299.0±131.0) minutes, C group(278.0±44.8) minutes, D group (246.0±34.0) min, P=0.035]. Fluctuation of operation time was more common in A and B groups, which became stable in C and D groups. Though intra-operative blood loss was not significantly different among four groups [A group (249.0±559.6) ml, B group (288.0±568.1) ml, C group (87.0±43.3) ml, D group (69.0±64.5) ml, P=0.225], but it presented a decline trend in C and D groups. Number of harvested lymph node from postoperative pathological specimen was 10.9±5.9 in A group, 9.6±2.7 in B group, 15.8±4.8 in C group, and 14.2±5.1 in D group, with significant difference among groups (P=0.008; A group vs. C group, P=0.010; B group vs. C group, P=0.002; B group vs. D group, P=0.021). There were no significant differences in specimen length, postoperative complication rate, distal margin distance and hospital stay.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A well-skilled laparoscopic colorectal surgeon, by following the standard surgical procedures, are likely to overcome the learning curve smoothly after performing approximately 30 cases of taTME for rectal cancer.</p>

BIBFRAME:A new format of bibliographic data / 中华医学图书情报杂志

Initiated by the Library of Congress, BIBFRAME provides a foundation for the future of bibliographic description, both on the web, and in the broader networked world.The BIBFRAME metamodel is designed to be lightweight, flexible and able to accommodate the declarative needs of both existing ( RDA, DACS, VRA, etc..) and yet-to-be-developed community vocabularies .In addition to being a replacement for MARC, BIBFRAME serves as a general model for expressing and connecting bibliographic data .After the background of BIBFRAME was described , its structure , attribute and contents were analyzed , its 3 basic elements , namely attribute , unique-ness and relevance , were pointed out , and its model and vocabulary were discussed .