Colorectal Anastomoses:Surgical outcome and prevention of anastomotic leakage

Colorectal surgery is a frequently performed procedure with more than 10.000 annual resections in the Netherlands. The majority of resections are performed for colorectal cancer. The first part of this thesis focused on outcome of colorectal cancer surgery in the Netherlands based on the nationwide data of the Dutch Surgical Colorectal Audit. Surgical resection with creation of bowel continuance is the primary goal in uncomplicated procedures. An anastomosis however, bears the risk of anastomotic leakage, the most feared postoperative complication. The occurrence of anastomotic leakage is associated with more postoperative re-interventions, high morbidity and even mortality. In order to prevent against anastomotic leakage and its sequelae a defunctioning stoma could be constructed, and in high risk patients avoidance of an anastomosis could be preferred by means of an end-colostomy. Construction of stomas have their own drawbacks including more postoperative complications, higher hospital re-admission rates and stoma care problems. The second part of the thesis focused on prevention of anastomotic leakage in stapled colorectal anastomoses. The C-seal is a biodegradable intraluminal drain, which is fixed to the proximal side of the anastomosis during the stapling procedure, hereby covering the newly made anastomosis and preventing leakage of intestinal contents. The randomized results of the C-seal trial did not show a leakage reducing effect of the C-seal in colorectal anastomoses. Therefore there seems to be no future role for the C-seal in clinical anastomotic leakage prevention in colorectal surgery

Colorectal Anastomoses:Surgical outcome and prevention of anastomotic leakage

Colorectal surgery is a frequently performed procedure with more than 10.000 annual resections in the Netherlands. The majority of resections are performed for colorectal cancer. The first part of this thesis focused on outcome of colorectal cancer surgery in the Netherlands based on the nationwide data of the Dutch Surgical Colorectal Audit. Surgical resection with creation of bowel continuance is the primary goal in uncomplicated procedures. An anastomosis however, bears the risk of anastomotic leakage, the most feared postoperative complication. The occurrence of anastomotic leakage is associated with more postoperative re-interventions, high morbidity and even mortality. In order to prevent against anastomotic leakage and its sequelae a defunctioning stoma could be constructed, and in high risk patients avoidance of an anastomosis could be preferred by means of an end-colostomy. Construction of stomas have their own drawbacks including more postoperative complications, higher hospital re-admission rates and stoma care problems. The second part of the thesis focused on prevention of anastomotic leakage in stapled colorectal anastomoses. The C-seal is a biodegradable intraluminal drain, which is fixed to the proximal side of the anastomosis during the stapling procedure, hereby covering the newly made anastomosis and preventing leakage of intestinal contents. The randomized results of the C-seal trial did not show a leakage reducing effect of the C-seal in colorectal anastomoses. Therefore there seems to be no future role for the C-seal in clinical anastomotic leakage prevention in colorectal surgery

Surgery for Ampullary Cancer in a Patient with Pancreatic Lipomatosis Caused by Cystic Fibrosis

A patient with cystic fibrosis (CF) with pancreatic insufficiency presented with jaundice due to an ampullary tumour. CF is known for a higher incidence of gastrointestinal malignancies. The patient suffered from pancreatic insufficiency. At computed tomography (CT), pancreatic lipomatosis with absence of the pancreatic duct was seen. This is uncommon, also in patients with CF. During surgery, a total pancreatectomy was performed, because there was no possibility to construct a duct to mucosa anastomosis due to the absence of the pancreatic duct and more importantly the pancreas was already afunctional. The presence of lipomatosis increases the risk of leakage at the pancreaticojejunal anastomosis. Therefore, it is important to take this phenomenon, in this case already visible on the preoperative CT scan, into account during the workup for surgery

Mucus Microbiome of Anastomotic Tissue During Surgery Has Predictive Value for Colorectal Anastomotic Leakage

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to investigate the association of gut microbiota, depending on treatment method, with the development of colorectal anastomotic leakage (AL). BACKGROUND: AL is a major cause for morbidity and mortality after colorectal surgery, but the mechanism behind this complication still is not fully understood. METHODS: Bacterial DNA was isolated from 123 "donuts" of patients where a stapled colorectal anastomosis was made and was analyzed using 16S MiSeq sequencing. In 63 patients, this anastomosis was covered with a C-seal, a bioresorbable sheath stapled to the anastomosis. RESULTS: In non-C-seal patients, AL development was associated with low microbial diversity (P = 0.002) and correspondingly with a high abundance of the dominant Bacteroidaceae and Lachnospiraceae families (P = 0.008 and 0.010, respectively). In C-seal samples, where AL rates were slightly higher (25% vs 17%), an association with the gut microbiota composition was almost undetectable. Only a few opportunistic pathogenic groups of low abundance were associated with AL in C-seal patients, in particular Prevotella oralis (P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: AL in patients without a C-seal can be linked to the intestinal microbiota, in particular with a low microbial diversity and a higher abundance of especially mucin-degrading members of the Bacteroidaceae and Lachnospiraceae families. In C-seal patients, however, it seems that any potential protective benefits or harmful consequences of the gut microbiota composition in regard to wound healing are negated, as progression to AL is independent of the initially dominant bacterial composition.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

The C-seal trial:colorectal anastomosis protected by a biodegradable drain fixed to the anastomosis by a circular stapler, a multi-center randomized controlled trial

Background: Anastomotic leakage is a major complication in colorectal surgery and with an incidence of 11% the most common cause of morbidity and mortality. In order to reduce the incidence of anastomotic leakage the C-seal is developed. This intraluminal biodegradable drain is stapled to the anastomosis with a circular stapler and prevents extravasation of intracolonic content in case of an anastomotic dehiscence. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the C-seal in reducing anastomotic leakage in stapled colorectal anastomoses, as assessed by anastomotic leakage leading to invasive treatment within 30 days postoperative. Methods: The C-seal trial is a prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial with primary endpoint, anastomotic leakage leading to reintervention within 30 days after operation. In this trial 616 patients will be randomized to the C-seal or control group (1:1), stratified by center, anastomotic height (proximal or distal of peritoneal reflection) and the intention to create a temporary deviating ostomy. Interim analyses are planned after 50% and 75% of patient inclusion. Eligible patients are at least 18 years of age, have any colorectal disease requiring a colorectal anastomosis to be made with a circular stapler in an elective setting, with an ASA-classification Discussion: This Randomized Clinical trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the C-seal in preventing clinical anastomotic leakage. Trial registration: NTR308

Intestinal microbiota and anastomotic leakage of stapled colorectal anastomoses: a pilot study

Background Anastomotic leakage (AL) after colorectal surgery is a severe complication, resulting in morbidity, reinterventions, prolonged hospital stay and, in some cases, death. Some technical and patient-related aetiological factors of AL are well established. In many cases, however, none of these factors seem to explain the occurrence of AL. Recent studies suggest that the intestinal microbiome plays a role in wound healing, diabetes and Crohn's disease. The aim of this study was to compare the intestinal microbiota of patients who developed AL with matched patients with healed colorectal anastomoses. Methods We investigated the microbiome in the doughnuts collected from 16 patients participating in the C-seal trial. We selected eight patients who developed AL requiring reintervention and eight matched controls without AL. We analysed the bacterial 16S rDNA of both groups with MiSeq sequencing. Results The abundance of Lachnospiraceae is statistically higher (P = 0.001) in patient group who did develop AL, while microbial diversity levels were higher in the group who did not develop AL (P = 0.037). Body mass index (BMI) was also positively associated with the abundance of the Lachnospiraceae family (P = 0.022). Conclusion A correlation between the bacterial family Lachnospiraceae, low microbial diversity and anastomotic leakage, possibly in association with the BMI, was found. The relative abundance of the Lachnospiraceae family is possibly explained by the higher abundance of mucin-degrading Ruminococci within that family in AL cases (P = 0.011) as is similarly the case in IBD