[Transanal endoscopic operations for rectal tumours]

Background: Transanal endoscopic operation (TEO) may be the technique of choice for the treatment of rectal lesions, both benign and selected malignant lesions, with similar survival rates to conventional surgery but with lower morbidity.

Methods: In this article we present a series of 70 patients operated on with this procedure (TEO) in our center. The indications were benign rectal lesions and malignant lesions at early stages (T1) 86%. The surgical procedure was performed with the the transanal endoscopic operation platform (TEO; Karl Storz, Tüttlingen, Germany) and ultrasonic scalpel (Harmonic scalpel, Ethicon Endo-surgery,…).

Results: The indication in 43 patients was a benign lesion (adenoma), in the other 27 the diagnosis was adenocarcinoma. After the resection, 61% of the series had a malignant lesion in the pathology report: 13 patients of the 43 with a benign lesion initially had a malignant lesion in the pathology report. Postoperative morbidity was 36%, Clavien III (5,7%). 3 patients (4%) needed emergency surgery. All of the benign lesions were completely excised, but 7 malignant lesions had resection margin involvement The median follow-up time was 26,4 months (range, 1-71 months), the overall recurrence for benign tumors was 9%, 8% for malignant pT1 and 12,5% for malignant pT2. Early salvage surgery was performed on 8 patients.

Conclusions: TEO allows us to excise benign rectal lesions that could not be excised with a conventional approach (endoscopic or transanal resection) with a low morbidity rate. TEO can be used for malignant rectal tumors in early stages (pT1) with pathological confirmation.