Intracorporeal reinforcing sutures reduce anastomotic leakage in double-stapling anastomosis for laparoscopic rectal surgery.

In rectal surgery, double-stapled anastomosis is one of the most common techniques. However, the crossing of the staple line is considered a weakness of this method and could lead to anastomotic leakage (AL), which is one of the major complications of rectal cancer surgery.

To investigate the usefulness of laparoscopic intracorporeal reinforcement suturing for preventing AL in laparoscopic rectal surgery.

A total of 153 patients with rectal cancer underwent laparoscopic rectal resection with anastomosis using the double-stapling technique between January 2015 and December 2018. Patient characteristics, surgical data, and outcomes were recorded and retrospectively analysed. Patients who received intracorporeal reinforcing sutures (n = 72) were compared with those who did not receive the reinforcing sutures (n = 81).

AL was observed in 11 (7.2%) cases overall and in only 1 case in the group with intracorporeal reinforcing sutures. There were no associations between clinicopathological factors and the use of reinforcing sutures. Multivariate analysis revealed that a distance from the anal verge of less than 6.5 cm, diabetes mellitus, and the non-use of reinforcing sutures were independent risk factors for AL.

Laparoscopic intracorporeal reinforcing sutures reduced the incidence of AL. Therefore, laparoscopic reinforcing sutures for double-stapled anastomoses seem useful for the prevention of AL.