[Transanal endoscopic surgery with conventional laparoscopy materials: is it feasible?]

Transanal endoscopic surgery with conventional laparotomy materials may be an alternative to transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) for the excision of rectal lesions susceptible to local resection.

We prospectively analysed 27 patients included consecutively between 1999 and 2009, on whom a Transanal endoscopic operation (TEO) was performed by total resection of the rectal wall. All procedures were performed with a 40mm rectoscope, initially designed by us and later with the Storz rectoscope, using conventional laparoscopic tools and material.

We operated on 27 patients with a mean age of 69.4 years: 23 due to benign lesions and 4 malignant. The medium distance of the tumour to the anal margins was 8.2cm (range 5-15) and a mean tumour diameter of 3.38 ± 1.2cm. There were 4 postoperative complications, 3 due to bleeding and one case of perforation. The mean hospital stay was 6 ± 3.75 days. There was no perioperative mortality or recurrences..

Performing transanal endoscopic surgery with conventional laparoscopy material is feasible, with a reduction in costs and accessible to laparoscopy surgeons.