Oncology · Surgery · 56 min ago
Technical difficulty was not linked to worse outcomes after TaTME
A multicenter retrospective cohort study of 210 patients with middle or low rectal cancer found that higher technical-difficulty scores were associated with longer operations, but not significantly different recurrence or survival outcomes. Most recorded recurrences were distant and occurred within two years.
- Higher difficulty scores were associated with longer operative times.
- Recurrence rates did not differ significantly between groups.
- Most recorded recurrences were distant and occurred within two years.
Researchers retrospectively studied 210 consecutive patients with middle or low rectal cancer who underwent transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) at three centers in China. A five-item score based on sex, body mass index, tumor distance from the anal verge, tumor diameter and neoadjuvant therapy classified 130 patients as having low technical difficulty and 80 as having high difficulty. Outcomes included surgical results, recurrence, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).
Mean operative time was longer in the high-difficulty group than in the low-difficulty group (249.0 vs 220.3 minutes; P<0.001). Major short-term outcomes did not differ significantly. Overall recurrence was 21.2% in the high-difficulty group and 17.7% in the low-difficulty group (P=0.588); local recurrence was 2.5% and 3.8%, respectively (P=0.711). High technical difficulty was not independently associated with DFS (HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.57–2.00) or OS (HR 1.21, 95% CI 0.52–2.81). Across the cohort, 3-year DFS was 80.2% and OS was 89.0%; 40 recurrences were recorded, mainly distant, with most occurring within two years.
The findings suggest that the score primarily captured operative duration in this cohort. The retrospective design and three-center sample limit the conclusions; the study does not establish that technical difficulty has no effect on outcomes.
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Surgical Endoscopy: Association between technical difficulty and patient prognosis after transanal total mesorectal excision for middle and low rectal cancer: a multicenter cohort study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.