Robot‐assisted laparoscopic abdominoperineal resection for low rectal cancer

Background This article reports on patients with low rectal cancer treated with robot‐assisted laparoscopic abdominoperineal resection. Methods Robot‐assisted laparoscopic abdominoperineal resection was performed on seven patients in the General Surgery Clinic of Umraniye Training and Research Hospital between 2010 and 2011 by performing abdominal and perineal skin incisions using the same technique. Gender, age of the patients, intraoperative and postoperative complications, morbidity and mortality were evaluated. Results Five of the patients were male and two of them were female. Mean age was 59.2 years. All of the procedures were completed robotically. No intraoperative complication occurred, whereas urinary bladder dysfunction (n = 1) and chylous ascites (n = 1), treated conservatively, developed in the postoperative period. On histopathological examination, surgical and circumferential margins were found to be negative in all specimens. Early recurrence was not found on postoperative follow‐up. Conclusion Robot‐assisted laparoscopic surgery can be performed safely in narrow and deep anatomical areas, such as the pelvis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.