Research Article

Safety and efficacy of left colic artery preservation in laparoscopic anterior resection for lower rectal cancer

Department of General Surgery (Gastrointestinal Surgery), The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China

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Yejiang Zhou

Department of General Surgery (Gastrointestinal Surgery), The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China

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Linxia Xu

Department of General Surgery (Gastrointestinal Surgery), The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China

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Lingling Xie

*Author for correspondence: Tel.: +86 139 8279 8930;

E-mail Address: XLLsci12345678@163.com

Department of Gynaecology, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China

Sichuan Treatment Center for Gynecologic & Breast Diseases (Gynecology), Luzhou, China

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Published Online:19 Jul 2023https://doi.org/10.2217/fon-2023-0475

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Abstract

Background: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of left colic artery (LCA) preservation in laparoscopic anterior resection with D3 lymphadenectomy for lower rectal cancer. Methods: A total of 117 patients with lower rectal cancer who received laparoscopic anterior resection were retrospectively analyzed. Results: No differences were detected in terms of the numbers of harvested lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes, the intraoperative and postoperative complications or the postoperative recurrence and survival rates between the two groups (p > 0.05), but the LCA preservation group showed a lower anastomotic leakage rate than the LCA nonpreservation group (2/49 vs 12/68). Conclusion: LCA preservation may help reduce the incidence of anastomotic leakage without impairing surgical and oncological outcomes.

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Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest; •• of considerable interest

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Vol. 19, No. 21

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History

Received 27 May 2023

Accepted 4 July 2023

Published online 19 July 2023

Published in print July 2023

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Keywords

Author contributions

Z Li and L Xie made substantial contributions to conception and design for this work. Z Li collected and analyzed all the data. Z Li and L Xie were the major contributors in writing the manuscript. Y Zhou and L Xu performed critical revision for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by: Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2023YFS0320); Luzhou Science and Technology Program (No. 2022-JYJ-135); Doctoral Research Initiation Fund of Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

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