Effect of Splenic Flexure Mobilization With Extended Resection of the Proximal Colon for Rectal Cancer With Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy on Postoperative Complications

Preoperative neoadjuvant therapy has become the guideline-recommended standard treatment for patients with locally advanced or mid-to-low rectal cancer with suspected regional lymph node metastasis. However, preoperative neoadjuvant radiotherapy caused radiation damage to the pelvic bowel, resulting in varying degrees of edema, vascular stiffness, and insufficient blood supply. According to the traditional rectal cancer surgery, the proximal bowel resection only needs to be more than 10cm above the upper edge of the tumor. However, this range of resection cannot remove all the damaged proximal bowel, and using the damaged proximal bowel for anastomosis may lead to the risk of anastomotic-related complications (including anastomotic leakage, anastomotic stenosis, and anastomotic proximal bowel stiffness, etc.) also increased. Therefore, extended resection of the proximal bowel with splenic flexure mobilization and using healthy proximal bowel for anastomosis may help reduce the incidence of complications related to rectal anastomosis after neoadjuvant therapy.