Purpose: The biofragmentable anastomotic ring (BAR) is now accepted as an alternative anastomotic method to handsewn and stapled anastomosis in colonic surgery. However, for a short rectal stump in a narrow pelvis, it is rather difficult to use the BAR in a low anterior resection.
Method: To overcome the difficulty, we designed and used a BAR-adapter to facilitate biofragmentable ring anastomosis following low anterior resection in eight patients with rectal cancers.
Results: There was no case in our series having received conversion to other methods. There was no significant complication associated with this technique.
Conclusion: With the BAR-adapter, the applicability of the BAR can be greatly expanded in colorectal anastomosis following low anterior resection.