Critical assessment of the surgical treatment of low rectal adenocarcinoma in a reference hospital in Recife

Objectives To evaluate the rates of abdominoperineal resection in patients with low rectal adenocarcinoma at the Hospital Barao de Lucena – SES/PE. Methodology This is a study based on the analysis of medical records of patients with low rectal adenocarcinoma submitted to surgical treatment at the Hospital Barao de Lucena Coloproctology Service between 2013 and 2016. Results It was observed that 77.5% of patients underwent abdominoperineal resection and 22.5% underwent anal sparing surgery. Most of the patients were male (62.5%), were under 70 years old (72.5%), presented a BMI less than 30 kg/m2 (87.5%), presented American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score I and III (82.5%), Rullier classification from I to III (95%) and TNM different from T1–T3 (95%). In 92.5% of medical records, there was no record of fecal continence before surgery. The most frequent period between the end of the radiotherapy and the surgery was over 11 weeks (57.5%); the most common distance from the tumor to the anal margin was between 3.1 and 4.0 cm (35% of patients). Conclusion There was a high rate of non-sparing anal sphincter surgeries. The only predictive factor for abdominoperineal resection was the presence of tumors classified as Rullier type III and IV.