Experience with the use of the circular stapler in rectal surgery.

This report provides our personal experience along with a general overview of the use of the circular stapler in rectal surgery. To determine the results of our experience with the use of the circular stapler for construction of anastomoses following resection, a series of 215 anastomoses performed in 214 patients was reviewed. The patients ranged in age from 33 to 88 years. There were 116 men and 98 women. Indications for operation included malignancy, diverticular disease, villous adenoma, Crohn's disease, and rectal procidentia. The types of operation performed included removal of varying portions of the large bowel. The anastomosis was performed in a uniform manner with the EEA (United States Surgical Corp., Norwalk, CT) and more recently the CEEA (United States Surgical Corp., Norwalk, CT). The operative mortality was 0.47 percent, with the death being unrelated to the anastomosis. Intraoperative complications encountered included bleeding, difficult extraction, instrument failure, incomplete doughnuts, deficient anastomoses, and miscellaneous problems. Early postoperative complications included one leak and a number of complications unrelated to the anastomoses. Anastomotic stenosis developed in 27 patients, but only 8 were permanent and only 3 of these were symptomatic. Two of these patients were treated with balloon dilatation. Anastomotic recurrences developed in 13.1 percent of patients. Our experience gained with the circular stapling device and that reported in the literature have shown it to be a reliable method of performing anastomoses to the rectum in a safe and expeditious manner.