Abstract:
Objective To evaluate the safety of natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) and to compare the short- and longterm outcomes of three techniques of NOSES for rectal cancer (RC).
Methods A consecutive series of patients with stage Ⅰ-ⅢRC who underwent laparoscopic NOSES were enrolled. The three main techniques of NOSES included specimen eversion and extra-abdominal resection (EVER), specimen extraction and extra-abdominal resection (EXER), and intra-abdominal resection and specimen extraction (IREX). The postoperative complication rate, 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate, 5-year local recurrence rate (LRR), and 5-year distant metastasis rate (DMR) were compared among the three techniques.
Results A total of 268 RC patients met the inclusion criteria, including 83 patients treated with EVER, 75 patients treated with EXER, and 110 patients treated with IREX. Tumor location was the most critical factor associated with technique selection. The postoperative complication rate was 12.3% in all patients, 18.1% for EVER, 13.3% for EXER, and 7.3% for IREX (P=0.073). Regarding long-term outcomes, the 5-year DFS, 5-year LRR, and 5-year DMR were 85.03%, 4.22%, and 11.00%, respectively, in all patients. The 5-year DFS rate was higher in the IREX group than in the other two groups; the 5-year LRR was higher in the EVER group than in the other two groups; and the 5-year DMR was the lowest in the EVER group, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusions The three techniques of NOSES for RC showed acceptable safety and oncological outcomes. Tumor location was a determinant of technique selection.