Abstract
ABSTRACT Background: Patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) have traditionally had open surgery. This changed in 2019 when laparoscopic robot-assisted surgery was introduced to this group of patients. This study presents data from the first 105 patients with LARC treated with laparoscopic robot-assisted beyond total mesorectal excision (bTME) surgery. Patient characteristics, operative data, complications and short-term oncological results will be presented, considered and compared to previous literature in the field. Methods: Data from the patients, those treated with LARC robot-assisted bTME surgery, were registered prospectively from the institutional database MedInsight between January 2019 to December 2020, and registered retrospectively from the institutional journal system DIPS from January 2021 to June 2021. The data was registered and analysed in the statistical software program SPSS. PubMed was used to find comparable literature. Results: Ninety-five patients (90,5 %) had R0 resection. Sixty percent had abdominoperineal resection, 32 % Hartmann’s operation and 8 % had low anterior resection performed. Everyone but eight patients entered two or more compartments at surgery, where the central compartment was entered during surgery in every patient. There were significant differences in compartments entered between the first group versus the last group of patients, with one more compartment entered in the last group. Median operation time was 373 minutes and there was no significant difference between the first and the last group. Seven percent was converted to open surgery, median blood loss was 300 mL and severe complication rate, Accordion 3 or more, was 26 %. There were no significant differences in complications between APR and Hartmann’s operation. Conclusion: The patients in this study had LARC treated with laparoscopic robot-assisted bTME surgery. The short-term oncological result, R0, were comparable to previous research in the field. Compartments entered was useful to describe the surgery, where two or more compartments was entered during surgery for most of the patients. The complications seem acceptable considered the complicated surgery for this group of patients and compared to previous research in the field.