Wolthuis AM, Bislenghi G, Overstraeten ABV, D’Hoore A. Transanal total mesorectal excision: Towards standardization of technique. World J Gastroenterol 2015; 21(44): 12686-12695 [PMID: 26640346 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i44.12686]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Albert M Wolthuis, MD, Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. albert.wolthuis@uzleuven.be
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Systematic Reviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 28, 2015; 21(44): 12686-12695 Published online Nov 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i44.12686
Transanal total mesorectal excision: Towards standardization of technique
Albert M Wolthuis, Gabriele Bislenghi, Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten, André D’Hoore
Albert M Wolthuis, Gabriele Bislenghi, Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten, André D’Hoore, Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Author contributions: Wolthuis AM and D’Hoore A designed the study; Wolthuis AM, Bislenghi G and de Buck van Overstraeten A performed the study; Wolthuis AM and Bislenghi G analysed the data; Wolthuis AM, Bislenghi G, de Buck van Overstraeten A and D’Hoore A wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Albert M Wolthuis, MD, Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. albert.wolthuis@uzleuven.be
Telephone: +32-16-344265 Fax: +32-16-344832
Received: May 16, 2015 Peer-review started: May 20, 2015 First decision: July 14, 2015 Revised: August 1, 2015 Accepted: October 23, 2015 Article in press: October 26, 2015 Published online: November 28, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: Transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) is a result of recent developments in transanal endoscopic microsurgery, transanal minimally invasive surgery, natural orifice specimen extraction, natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery, transanal abdominal transanal proctosigmoidectomy, and laparoscopic total mesorectal excision. TaTME is an exciting convergence of various existing surgical techniques that represents the future of rectal cancer surgery. A substantial number of patients, and especially obese males with a narrow pelvis, will benefit from this minimally invasive approach. This systematic review addresses all aspects of TaTME and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this technique. Different surgical approaches are used, but it is clear that experience with TaTME is increasing worldwide. Standardization of the technique and reporting of outcomes is required.
