Background: Anastomotic leakage is associated with short- and long-term mortality and an increased risk of local and distant cancer recurrence. This study aimed to investigate the short- and long-term outcomes after surgical or conservative therapy for anastomotic leakage.
Methods: Patients with anastomotic leakage after undergoing colorectal resection between January 2011 and December 2018 were identified and grouped according to the therapy for anastomotic leakage: surgical or conservative. We analyzed the intergroup differences in clinicopathological factors and outcomes.
Results: Of the 33 patients with anastomotic leakage, 21(64%)and 12(36%)patients received surgical therapy and conservative therapy, respectively. Patients in the conservative therapy group had a shorter length of hospital stay after the first operation. In patients with UICC Stage Ⅱ/Ⅲ, both overall and recurrence-free survival were significantly worse in those who were treated conservatively than in patients who were surgically treated(p<0.01).
Conclusion: Conservative therapy for anastomotic leakage could shorten the length of hospital stay, but could negatively affect long-term outcomes.