Laparoscopic low anterior resection and transanal pull-through for low rectal cancer: A case report

Surgical resection of lower rectal tumours is often considered to be technically challenging especially when the anal sphincter mechanism needed to be spared to avoid lifelong colostomy. Stapling has made anastomosis below peritoneal reflection easier. However with very low tumours stapling too may be difficult due to short rectal stump. An alternative is to perform a transanal pull through and a colo-anal anastomosis. Use of laparoscopic resection in these cases reduces the morbidity associated with open resections. We report a case of successful use of tansanal pull-through technique to avoid diverting stoma in resection of a lower rectal tumour.