Exclusion of small bowel from pelvis for postoperative radiotherapy for rectal cancer.

The pelvis is the preferential site of disease when recurrence occurs after curative resection of rectal cancer. Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy decreases local recurrence rates for Dukes stages B and C; however, after abdominoperineal or anterior resections, the small bowel descends into the lower pelvis, and, due to its low tolerance to radiation, optimal doses cannot be safely delivered unless the small bowel can be excluded from the pelvis. This can be achieved by cystopexy and/or by creating a pelvic sling with a knitted polypropylene mesh. Three cases are presented in which radiotherapy was satisfactorily delivered with these techniques.