Risk Factors of Anastomotic Leakage After Anterior Resection for Rectal Cancer Patients

Objective Anastomotic leakage(AL)is one of the serious complications after anterior resection for rectal cancer.Defunctioning stoma(DS)is one of the most widely used approaches to prevent it;however,the effect of DS on the occurrence of AL remains controversial.This study aimed to investigate risk factors of AL and assess the effect of DS after anterior resection for rectal cancer patients.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted for the data of 1840 patients who underwent anterior resection for rectal cancer from January 2014 to December 2019.Results The results showed the overall AL incidence was 7.5%.Multivariate analyses revealed that males[odds ratio(OR)1.562]and T3–T4 stage(OR 1.729)were independent risk factors for all patients.After propensity score matching analysis,the AL incidence was 14.1%in the group with no DS and 6.4%in the DS group(P<0.001).The clinical AL(grade B+grade C)incidence was 12.4%in no DS group and 4.6%in the DS group(P<0.001).Conclusion The study suggested that males and T3–T4 stage were independent risk factors of AL.In addition,DS could reduce the rate of symptomatic AL.

Risk factors for nonclosure of defunctioning stoma and stoma-related complications among low rectal cancer patients after sphincter-preserving surgery

Background::Defunctioning stoma is widely used to reduce anastomotic complications in rectal cancer surgery.However,the complications of stoma and stoma reversal surgery should not be underestimated.Furthermore,in some patients,stoma reversal failed.Here,we investigated the complications of defunctioning stoma surgery and subsequent reversal surgery and identify risk factors associated with the failure of getting stoma reversed.Methods::In total,154 patients who simultaneously underwent low anterior resection and defunctioning stoma were reviewed.Patients were divided into two groups according to whether their stoma got reversed or not.The reasons that patients received defunctioning stoma and experienced stoma-related complications and the risk factors for failing to get stoma reversed were analysed.Results::The mean follow-up time was 47.54(range 4.0-164.0)months.During follow-up,19.5%of the patients suffered stoma-related long-term complications.Only 79(51.3%)patients had their stomas reversed.The morbidity of complications after reversal surgery was 45.6%,and these mainly consisted of incision-related complications.Multivariate analyses showed that pre-treatment comorbidity(HR=3.17,95%CI 1.27-7.96,P=0.014),postoperative TNM stage(HR=2.55,95%CI 1.05-6.18,P=0.038),neoadjuvant therapy(HR=2.75,95%CI 1.07-7.05,P=0.036),anastomosis-related complications(HR=4.52,95%CI 1.81-11.29,P=0.001),and disease recurrence(HR=24.83,95%CI 2.90-213.06,P=0.003)were significant independent risk factors for a defunctioning stoma to be permanent.Conclusions::Defunctioning stoma is an effective method to reduce symptomatic anastomotic leakage,but the stoma itself and its reversal procedure are associated with high morbidity of complications,and many defunctioning stomas eventually become permanent.Therefore,surgeons should carefully assess preoperatively and perform defunctioning stomas in very high risk patients.In addition,doctors should perform stoma reversal surgery more actively to prevent temporary stomas from becoming permanent.