title: Morbidity and mortality following abdominoperineal resection for rectal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: From 1979 through 1986, 56 patients, 38 males (68%) and 18 females (32%), underwent an abdominoperineal resection with a wide perineal dissection for primary adenocarcinoma of the rectum. The open perineal wounds required a mean time of 6 months to completely heal. Estimated blood loss by the surgeon ranged from 200 ml to 4200 ml with a mean of 1112 ml and a median of 1000 ml. Twenty-six patients (46%) developed postoperative or intraoperative complications. Nineteen patients (34%) underwent incidental surgery with no associated morbidity. The most commonly occurring complication was impotence in 69% of male patients. The next most common complication was bladder dysfunction with urinary retention in 14 patients (25%) and urinary incontinence in five patients (9%). There were two postoperative deaths (4%). Although the morbidity was significant, greater than 90% of the complications were treatable and resolved without major sequellae.
authors.affiliation: Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Department of Surgical Oncology and Endoscopy, Buffalo, New York 14263.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Petrelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Bigas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piedmonte
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Herrera
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D003125:Colostomy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D010502:Perineum / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014945:Wound Healing