Pure transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer: experience with 55 cases.

Background: Although the anatomic difficulties of laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer have been resolved by hybrid transanal total mesorectal excision (h-taTME), a completely incisionless surgical procedure has not yet been developed. This study was performed to explore the efficacy of pure taTME (p-taTME) without laparoscopic assistance as a completely non-invasive surgical procedure for rectal cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated all patients with rectal cancer who underwent p-taTME between December 2015 and April 2018.