Risk factors for nonclosure of defunctioning stoma and stoma-related complications among low rectal cancer patients after sphincter-preserving surgery.

Background: Defunctioning stoma is widely used to reduce anastomotic complications in rectal cancer surgery. However, the complications of stoma and stoma reversal surgery should not be underestimated. Furthermore, in some patients, stoma reversal failed. Here, we investigated the complications of defunctioning stoma surgery and subsequent reversal surgery and identify risk factors associated with the failure of getting stoma reversed.

Methods: In total, 154 patients who simultaneously underwent low anterior resection and defunctioning stoma were reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether their stoma got reversed or not. The reasons that patients received defunctioning stoma and experienced stoma-related complications and the risk factors for failing to get stoma reversed were analysed.

Results: The mean follow-up time was 47.54 (range 4.0-164.0) months. During follow-up, 19.5% of the patients suffered stoma-related long-term complications. Only 79 (51.3%) patients had their stomas reversed. The morbidity of complications after reversal surgery was 45.6%, and these mainly consisted of incision-related complications. Multivariate analyses showed that pre-treatment comorbidity (HR = 3.17, 95% CI 1.27-7.96,  = 0.014), postoperative TNM stage (HR = 2.55, 95% CI 1.05-6.18,  = 0.038), neoadjuvant therapy (HR = 2.75, 95% CI 1.07-7.05,  = 0.036), anastomosis-related complications (HR = 4.52, 95% CI 1.81-11.29,  = 0.001), and disease recurrence (HR = 24.83, 95% CI 2.90-213.06,  = 0.003) were significant independent risk factors for a defunctioning stoma to be permanent.

Conclusions: Defunctioning stoma is an effective method to reduce symptomatic anastomotic leakage, but the stoma itself and its reversal procedure are associated with high morbidity of complications, and many defunctioning stomas eventually become permanent. Therefore, surgeons should carefully assess preoperatively and perform defunctioning stomas in very high risk patients. In addition, doctors should perform stoma reversal surgery more actively to prevent temporary stomas from becoming permanent.