Surgical management of retrorectal tumors: a retrospective study of a 9-year experience in a single institution

Our plain-English summary of Surgical management of retrorectal tumors: a retrospective study of a 9-year experience in a single institution, by C. Lin, K. Jin, H. Lan, et al (OncoTargets and Therapy, 2011).

The study

• Authors: C. Lin, K. Jin, H. Lan, L. Teng, J. Lin, W. Chen
• Journal: OncoTargets and Therapy
• Published: 2011;4:203-8
• Cited by: 24 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: The relative rarity and anatomical position of retrorectal tumors may lead to difficulty in diagnosis and surgical management.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of 62 patients who had resection of retrorectal tumors between 2002 and 2010.

Results: All patients in this study were treated by excision of the retrorectal tumors. Surgical approach included transsacral approach (52 cases), transabdominal approach (eight cases), and combined approach (two cases). A total of 48 benign lesions (77.4%) and 14 malignant lesions (22.6%) were confirmed by histological examination. The 48 benign cases included dermoid cysts (17 cases), simple cysts (eight cases), teratomas (eight cases), neurofibromas (eight cases), fibrolipomas (four cases), neurilemmomas (two cases), and synovioma (one case). The 14 malignant cases included lymphomas (four cases), malignant teratomas (three cases), fibrosarcomas (two cases), interstitialomas (four cases) and malignant mesothelioma (one case). Complications occurred in 14.5% of patients and included intraoperative bleeding (three cases), rectal injury (three cases), and presacral infection (three cases).

Conclusion: Primary retrorectal tumors are very rare. Successful treatment of these tumors requires extensive knowledge of pelvic anatomy and expertise in pelvic surgery.

In plain English

This article was a review of hospital records about surgery. It was not a study of asbestos. The authors looked back at 62 patients, 23 men and 39 women aged 15 to 68, who had surgery from 2002 to 2010 to remove tumors in the retrorectal space, the area behind the rectum. All were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China. Examination of the tissue found 48 benign and 14 malignant tumors. One of the 14 malignant tumors was a malignant mesothelioma. The article's table listed no recurrence for that case. The article gave no clinical history for that patient, did not say whether that patient was among those followed up, and did not mention asbestos or any patient's exposures. Complications occurred in 14.5% of patients. Of 45 patients followed for 6 months to 9 years, seven had at least one recurrence. Some counts differed between sections of the article. The authors concluded that successful treatment of these tumors requires extensive knowledge of pelvic anatomy and expertise in pelvic surgery.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Retrospective review of the clinical records of one hospital department's surgical patients (case series)
• Who was studied: 62 patients (23 men, 39 women; ages 15 to 68, median 40.5) who had surgery for retrorectal tumors from 2002 to 2010 at the Department of Coloproctological Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China
• Exposure: The article did not study asbestos or any other exposure. It described surgical treatment of retrorectal tumors, one of which was a malignant mesothelioma.
• Main results:
  • Of the 62 patients, 48 had benign tumors (77.4%) and 14 had malignant tumors (22.6%), as confirmed by tissue examination.
  • One of the 14 malignant tumors was a malignant mesothelioma (1 of 62 patients, listed as 1.6%). The table listed 'None' under recurrence for this case. The article gave no clinical history or exposure details for this patient and did not say whether the patient was among the 45 followed up.
  • In the results section, 48 patients were treated through the transsacral approach, 8 through the transabdominal approach and 6 through a combined abdominosacral approach. Of 52 cases begun through the transsacral approach, 4 were converted during surgery to a combined approach. Excision was microscopically complete in 52 cases.
  • Complications occurred in 14.5% of the 62 patients: three cases of bleeding of more than 800 mL during surgery, three rectal injuries and three presacral infections after surgery.
  • Of the 45 patients followed for 6 months to 9 years, seven had at least one episode of recurrence.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that primary tumors of the retrorectal space are very rare, and that successful treatment requires extensive knowledge of pelvic anatomy and expertise in pelvic surgery.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma.

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