| AIM: The aim of this study was to show the technical aspect and short-term outcomes of patients who underwent taTME with construction for rectal cancer. Methods: We evaluated prospectively collected data of 73 consecutive patients with rectal cancer who underwent TaTME with construction from November 2014 to March 2020. Intraoperative complications, blood loss, postoperative complications, and pathological findings were assessed. Surgical procedure: A double purse-string suture was applied to tightly occlude the rectum with a 3-cm margin distal to the tumor. Full-thickness rectal transection was performed, dissecting circular muscle and longitudinal muscle. After confirming the prostate (rectovaginal septum), the rectourethral muscle was dissected. Dissection proceeded along the fascia around the middle of rectum, recognizing the NVB and pelvic nerve, circumferentially. Results: Intraoperative adverse event occurred in 4 patients, including 2 of visceral injury. The mean operative time and amount of blood loss were 359 min and 79 g, respectively. Postoperative complications occurred in 16 patients, including 2 patients with Clavien Dindo classification grade IIIb. The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes was 16.5. The mean distal margin was 2.6 cm. One patient had radial margin positive. Conclusion: TaTME is one of the crucial techniques to solve the problems in rectal cancer surgery. Advantage of this technique is transanal enhanced visualization and disadvantage of this technique is to need 5 surgeons. |
