Description

Inclusion criteria:

Patients > 18 years of age operated with robotic-assisted abdominoperineal resection for irradiated locally advanced rectal or anal cancer where robotic-assisted perineal and/or vaginal reconstruction has been performed with a rectus abdominis muscle flap.

Methods Up to 40 patients operated with robotic-assisted abdominoperineal resection with Da Vinci Xi surgical system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, California, USA) and robotic-assisted reconstruction with a pedicled rectus muscle will be included in this prospective, non-randomized study.

In addition to the standardized post-operative care for patients with locally advanced rectal or anal cancer as specified by national guidelines, patients will be offered study-specific follow-up visits at 1, 6 and 12 months.

Complications are recorded by the accordion severity grading system of surgical complications. Patient related outcomes measures will be registered by using European organization for research and treatment of cancer Quality of life questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). Sexual health will be registered by a subset of questions from European organization for research and treatment of cancer Quality of life questionnaire Sexual health (EORTC QLQ-SH22).

Primary endpoint:

• perineal wound healing at 3 months

Secondary endpoints:

• early (< 30 days) and late (> 30 days) complications
• quality of life preoperatively and at 3- and 12 months postoperatively
• sexual function preoperatively and at 3- and 12 months postoperatively
• clinical evaluation of abdominal wall strength preoperatively, at 3- and 12 months postoperatively