Robotic-assisted surgery may be a useful approach to protect urinary function in the modern era of diverse surgical approaches for rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND

Urinary dysfunction (UD) remains a significant complication of rectal cancer surgery. In modern surgical treatment for rectal cancer, multiple operative approaches are used. Such approaches include open, laparoscopic, and robotic-assisted surgery; and multiple procedures, including anterior, intersphincteric, and abdominoperineal resection. Thus, modern surgical treatments for rectal cancer have diversified. This study aimed to identify risk factors for early UD (EUD) after total mesorectal excision (TME) and to explore the methods for decreasing postoperative EUD in diverse surgical treatments for rectal cancer.

METHODS

In our retrospective cohort study, we enrolled patients with lower rectal cancer who underwent TME alone at a single high-volume cancer center between 2010 and 2017. EUD was defined as the presence of ≥ 50 mL residual urine volume. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine clinicopathological factors significantly associated with postoperative EUD.

RESULTS

Of a total of 337 eligible patients, 32 patients (10%) had postoperative EUD. Multivariate analysis revealed that only the operative approach (laparoscopic surgery: odds ratio [OR], 8.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.94-27.14, open surgery: OR, 11.55; 95% CI 2.10-63.83) was significantly associated with an increase in postoperative EUD. Robotic-assisted surgery was associated with significant reduction in postoperative EUD.

CONCLUSION

Only robotic-assisted surgery was inversely correlated with postoperative EUD. Robotic-assisted surgery may be a useful approach to protect urinary function in lower rectal cancer surgery.