Usefulness of bipolar scissors for rectal cancer surgery with autonomic nerve preservation

Pelvic autonomic nerve preservation for rectal cancer has become more common in recent years. Therefore, we evaluated the usefulness of bipolar scissors for this procedure.

This study included 30 consecutive patients with lower rectal cancer who underwent pelvic autonomic nerve preservation at our hospital between April 1998 and August 2001. The bipolar scissors group comprised 10 patients who received the procedure using bipolar scissors, while the conventional group included 20 patients who received the procedure without the use of bipolar scissors. The two groups were compared in terms of operating time, blood loss, postoperative urinary and sexual function.

Blood loss in the bipolar scissors group was 394.4 +/- 201.8mL, which was a significantly lower volume than that in the conventional group (881.8 +/- 582.9ml) (p=0.0049). All the patients in the bipolar scissors group (10/10=100%) and 19 cases in the conventional group (19/20=95.0%) answered that they were satisfied with the results of their voiding function. In the bipolar scissors group, 100% were capable of erection (5/5) and 80.0% preserved ejaculation (4/5). In the conventional group, 100.0% (10/10) and 77.8% (7/9) preserved erection and ejaculation, respectively.

The use of bipolar scissors is quite beneficial when patients with rectal cancer receive pelvic autonomic nerve preservation.