Anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic total mesorectal excision for low rectal cancer

Aim: Our single centre comparative study is focused on perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic total mesorectal excision in patients with middle and low rectal cancer with attention to complications of double stapling coloanal anastomosis with and without protective ileostomy. Material and methods: From 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2008, 349 patients with rectal cancer underwent surgery at our centre. Of these, 114 patients (41 women and 73 men) with middle and low rectal cancer ( 12 cm from the anal verge) after laparoscopic resection with total mesorectal excision and primary coloanal anastomosis were included in the study. There were 64 patients with primary anastomosis without protective ileostomy in the first group, and 50 patients with primary protective ileostomy in the second one. Anastomotic leakage was defined as presence of stapler line dehiscence, presacral abscess or rectovaginal fistula.Results: Coloanal anastomotic leakage was present in 11.4% of cases (13 of 114 patients). In the no stoma group leakage was present in 17.2% of cases, in the stoma group in 4.0% of cases. Reoperation was needed in 9.4% (6 of 64) in the no stoma group and in 2.0% (1 of 50) in the stoma group. Stage of disease was found to be another factor influencing anastomotic healing. There was no significant difference between groups in relation to preoperative chemoradiotherapy, sex, body mass index, ASA score, age, time of surgery and tumour location in our study. Conclusions: Protective loop ileostomy significantly reduces the presence of symptomatic anastomotic leakage of double stapling coloanal anastomosis after laparoscopic total mesorectal excision in patients with low rectal cancer.