Brief Article
Copyright ©2009 Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Oct 15, 2009; 1(1): 56-60
Published online Oct 15, 2009. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v1.i1.56
A comparison of transanal excision and endoscopic resection for early rectal cancer
Soon Hak Lee, Seong Woo Jeon, Min Kyu Jung, Sung Kook Kim, Gyu Seog Choi
Soon Hak Lee, Seong Woo Jeon, Min Kyu Jung, Sung Kook Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, 50 Samduk 2Ga, Chung-gu, Daegu 700-721, South Korea
Gyu Seog Choi, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, 50 Samduk 2Ga, Chung-gu, Daegu 700-721, South Korea
Author contributions: Lee SH designed the study and wrote the manuscript; Jeon SW also designed the study and edited the manuscript; Jung MK performed the endoscopic resection and collected the data; Kim SK performed the endoscopic resection and was involved in the statistics; Choi GS performed the transanal excision.
Correspondence to: Seong Woo Jeon, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, 50 Samduk 2Ga, Chung-gu, Daegu 700-721, South Korea. sw-jeon@hanmail.net
Telephone: +82-53-4205512 Fax: +82-53-4268773
Received: March 12, 2009
Revised: August 26, 2009
Accepted: September 15, 2009
Published online: October 15, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To compare the outcomes of endoscopic resection with transanal excision in patients with early rectal cancer.

METHODS: Thirty-two patients with early rectal cancer were treated by transanal excision or endoscopic resection between May 1999 and December 2007. The patients were regularly re-examined by means of colonoscopy and abdominal computed tomography after resection of the early rectal cancer. Complications, length of hospital-stay, disease recurrence and follow up outcomes were assessed.

RESULTS: Sixteen patients were treated by endoscopic resection and 16 patients were treated by transanal excision. No significant differences were present in the baseline characteristics. The rate of complete resection in the endoscopic resection group was 93.8%, compared to 87.5% in the transanal excision group (P = 0.544). The mean length of hospital-stay in the endoscopic resection group was 2.7 ± 1.1 d, compared to 8.9 ± 2.7 d in the transanal excision group (P = 0.001). The median follow up was 15.0 mo (range 6-99). During the follow up period, there was no case of recurrent disease in either group.

CONCLUSION: Endoscopic resection was a safe and effective method for the treatment of early rectal cancers and its outcomes were comparable to those of transanal excision procedures.

Keywords: Endoscopic resection, Rectal cancer, Transanal excision