[Nursing care for lower rectal cancer patients undergoing anal sphincter-saving operation]

In the past, Abdominal Perineal Resection (APR) with a permanent end-sigmoid colostomy was the major operating procedure for lower rectal cancer. Colostomy seriously affects patients' physical and psychological functions. Recently, the development of surgical devices and pre-operation adjuvant treatment combined with chemoradiotherapy have made an anal sphincter-preserving (ASP) operation possible. With these new treatment procedures, both the survival and recurrence rates are improved, as is patients' quality of life. The complications associated with ASP, however, are different from those associated with APR. There is only limited discussion of these issues in the literature on the subject. This paper synthesizes the information in the literature with the authors' personal clinical experiences. We propose several nursing interventions that could be applied by clinical nurses to assist ASP patients in coping with post-operative complications.