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Total mesorectal excision: evaluating the evidence
1Department of Surgery, Otago University Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand.
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery
|October 10, 1997
Abstract:
The present paper reviews information from pathological and clinical studies examining the role of total mesorectal excision (TME) in the treatment of rectal cancer. The pathological studies provide information about the spread of rectal cancer within the mesorectum, and the adequacy of excision obtained with conventional surgery and TME. The clinical studies provide information about the safety of TME and the reported local recurrence rates. Taken together, these studies provide a rationale for using TME to resect rectal cancers in the distal two-thirds of the rectum, despite the absence of direct evidence from randomized controlled trials.