[Amputation of the rectum via laparoscopy]

We report the case of a 66-year-old woman with a bleeding adenocarcinoma of the lower thirty of the rectum. The laparoscopic procedure was initiated with mobilization of the sigmoid colon. The left ureter was identified as it crosses the left iliac vessels. The peritoneum along the right side of the rectosigmoid mesentery was transected. The superior rectal artery was divided utilizing extracorporeal ligatures. The anterior rectum was separated from the uterus, the pararectal tissue was mobilized, the middle rectal arteries were ligated and the posterior rectum was dissected from the presacral tissue. The perineal component of the procedure was simultaneously performed. The sigmoid loop was extracorporeally transected with a linear stapler. The proximal sigmoid end was exteriorized through the colostomy site (site of the left superior port). The distal sigmoid end was replaced in the abdominal cavity and was grasped through the perineal wound; the anus, rectum and sigmoid were removed through the perineal wound. The feasibility of this procedure has been well established. However, it seems to be an alternative for the classical abdominoperineal resection as treatment for adenocarcinoma of the lower rectum. His superiority has yet to be confirmed by future studies.