Anastomotic leak rate after low anterior resection for rectal cancer after chemoradiation therapy

Anastomotic leak may be the most concerning complication after colorectal anastomosis. To compare open with laparoscopic rectal resection, we must have accurate leak rates in patients who have received neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy to serve as a benchmark for comparison. All patients who had preoperative chemoradiation therapy with rectal resection and low pelvic anastomosis for cancer in a single colorectal practice over a 7-year period were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had proximal diversion and a contrast enema study before stoma reversal. Eighty-seven consecutive patients were included in the study. Average age was 58 years. Fifty-nine per cent of patients were male. Sixty-six per cent were smokers. Pathologic T stage was 5 per cent T0, 16 per cent T1, 28 per cent T2, 47 per cent T3, and 5 per cent T4. Seventy-five per cent of patients were pathologically lymph node-negative. Average time to stoma reversal was 122 days. Total anastomotic leak rate was 10.3 per cent (8% clinical leaks). Five (56%) patients with leak successfully underwent reversal of their diverting stoma (average time to reversal, 290 days). Patients who had the complication of anastomotic leakage had less likelihood of stoma reversal and a significantly prolonged time to stoma reversal.