Physiotherapy and Anterior Resection Syndrome (PARiS) trial: feasibility study protocol

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Gastroenterology
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Rectal cancer surgery often leads to bowel dysfunction, impacting patient quality of life.
• Long-term severe bowel dysfunction affects up to 25% of patients post-surgery.
• Current management lacks specific interventions to address post-surgical bowel dysfunction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of an educational and physiotherapy intervention for rectal cancer patients.
• To improve bowel function and quality of life following anterior resection surgery.
• To evaluate patient acceptance and compliance with a pelvic floor rehabilitation program.

Main Methods:

• Feasibility study involving 40 rectal cancer patients across three centers over 12 months.
• Intervention includes pre-operative educational sessions and a 3-month post-operative pelvic floor physiotherapy program.
• Outcomes measured include consent rates, program compliance, patient-reported bowel function, quality of life, and pelvic floor tone.

Main Results:

• Feasibility study is currently in progress.
• Primary outcome: proportion of eligible patients consenting to and attending the educational session.
• Secondary outcomes: compliance, acceptability, pelvic floor tone, bowel function, and quality of life.

Conclusions:

• The study aims to establish the acceptability and feasibility of a novel intervention.
• Positive findings could lead to a larger randomized controlled trial.
• This intervention holds potential to improve outcomes for rectal cancer survivors.