Laparoscopic surgery is considered to have better visualization for more accurate separation and further injury reduction than open surgery. However, the oncology outcomes are still controversial. Especially in the challenging patients who have narrow and deep pelvic, the disadvantage that it is difficult to obtain high-quality resected specimens during laparoscopic TME (laTME) surgery is considered to be magnified. It is considered transanal total mesorectal excision (taTME) is an alternative method to solve this old problem. However, as a new technology that has been around for only 10 years, the applicability of taTME worldwide needs to be further proved in long-term oncology. This prospective cohort study aimed to compare taTME surgery to laTME surgery for mid and low-rectal cancer on long-term oncology outcomes from a single, experienced Chinese center that was an early adopter of taTME.
The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term oncology outcomes and specimen quality of taTME and laTME in the treatment of middle and low rectal cancer by a large sample cohort. At the same time, the local recurrence following a primary rectal cancer resection was analyzed to respond to the concerns about the event of the national suspension for TaTME due to the high local recurrence rate in Norway.