Promising results after endoscopic vacuum treatment of anastomotic leakage following resection of rectal cancer with ileostomy

INTRODUCTION: In colorectal surgery, the most feared complication is anastomotic leakage (AL), which is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. In this study, we focus on treatment of perianastomotic abscess following AL after low anterior resection (LAR) of rectal cancer. In the literature, conservative irrigation regimes are reported to perdure for months and some even years and to be associated with a poor stoma closure rate. In the present paper, we evaluated endoscopic vacuum treatment of the perianastomotic abscess. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients who had LAR due to rectal cancer with total mesorectal excision (TME) performed in Slagelse and Naestved Hospitals in the 2008-2012 (1st February) period were identified in the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group database. We included patients who had AL and who did not require emergency reoperation and were treated with endoscopic vacuum in the study period. Patients who initiated treatment more than one month after the leakage were excluded. All patients had primary ileostomy.