Transanal Total Mesorectal Excision (taTME) for Rectal Cancer: A Case Series Report of a Natural Orifice Surgical Technique

In the treatment of colorectal cancer, total mesorectal excision (TME) has risen as the gold standard in the surgical treatment of this disease in order to obtain negative distal and circumferential radial margins. Since introduction in 2010, transanal TME has aimed to decrease the rate of positive margins and improve the quality of the dissection while decreasing the complications associated with a transabdominal low pelvic dissection. We retrospectively reviewed 25 cases of transanal TME completed between December 2014 and August 2017. Most of the patients in our case series were male (60%) with an average age of 57.1 years, BMI of 28.4 kg/m2, and with an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of II. The average tumor was midrectal (about 5.9 cm from the anal verge), clinically T3-T4 (92%), and had undergone neoadjuvant therapy (96%). The average operation was about six hours and 44 minutes with ileostomy placed most of the time (92%). In all the cases where the TME quality was graded, the specimens were reported to have been complete (grade I). There were no positive distal, radial, or proximal margins. The average hospital stay was about 5.9 days. The rate of minor complications was about 48 per cent and major complications occurred about 16 per cent of the time.

Transanal TME – really needed?

In the last decade, thanks to natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery, the application of laparoscopy through the anus has gained interest from both research and clinical point of views. Therefore, an increased number of transanal procedures have been reported, from the resection of a large rectal polyp to total mesorectal excision, and for controlling perioperative complications like leak, bleeding, and stenosis. Currently, the most popular surgical trend remains transanal total mesorectal excision. In this article, the technique, advantages, and disadvantages are discussed.