Quantifying displacement of urogenital organs after abdominoperineal resection for rectal cancer

© 2021 The Authors.AIM: This study aimed to quantify displacement of urogenital organs after abdominoperineal resection (APR), and to explore patient and treatment characteristics associated with displacement. METHOD: Patients from 16 centres who underwent APR for primary or recurrent rectal cancer (2001-2018) with evaluable preoperative and 6-18 months postoperative radiological imaging were included in the study. Anatomical landmarks on sagittal images were related to a coordinate system based on reference lines between fixed bony structures and absolute displacements were calculated using the Pythagorean theorem. Rotation of landmarks was measured relative to a pubic-S5 reference line. RESULTS: There were 248 patients included of which 171 were men and 77 women. The median displacement of the internal urethral orifice was 25 mm in men (maximum 65), and 17 mm in women (maximum 50). Rotation of the internal urethral orifice was in a caudal direction in 160/170 (94%) of men and 65/73 (89%) of women, with a median of 32 degrees (maximum 85) and 33 degrees (maximum 83), respectively. Displacements of the posterior bladder wall, distal end of prostatic urethra and cervix were significantly correlated with the internal urethral orifice. In linear regression analysis, biological mesh reconstruction of the pelvic floor and visceral interposition were significantly associated with increased displacement of the internal urethral orifice, and female gender and any filling of the presacral space with decreased displacement. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial absolute displacement and rotation of urogenital organs after APR for rectal cancer were observed, but with high variability among both men and women, and being significantly associated with reconstructive interventions.Publishe

Local Application of Gentamicin in the Prophylaxis of Perineal Wound Infection After Abdominoperineal Resection: A Systematic Review

Use of topical antibiotics to improve perineal wound healing after abdominoperineal resection (APR) is controversial. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the impact of local application of gentamicin on perineal wound healing after APR. The electronic databases Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane library were searched in January 2015. Perineal wound outcome was categorized as infectious complications, non-infectious complications, and primary perineal wound healing. From a total of 582 articles, eight studies published between 1988 and 2012 were included: four randomized controlled trials (RCTs), three comparative cohort studies, and one cohort study without control group. Gentamicin was administered using sponges (n = 3), beads (n = 4), and by local injection (n = 1). There was substantial heterogeneity regarding underlying disease, definition of outcome parameters and timing of perineal wound evaluation among the included studies, which precluded meta-analysis with pooling. Regarding infectious complications, three of six evaluable studies demonstrated a positive effect of local application of gentamicin: one of four RCTs and both comparative cohort studies. Only two RCTs reported on non-infectious complications, showing no significant impact of gentamicin sponge. All three comparative cohort studies demonstrated a significantly higher percentage of primary perineal wound healing after local application of gentamicin beads, but only one out of three evaluable RCTs did show a positive effect of gentamicin sponges. Currently available evidence does not support perineal gentamicin application after APR