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Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy.

Worldwide, 750,000 people are diagnosed with rectal cancer each year. This neoplasm has high cure rates if found in its early stages. Unfortunately, in recent years, rectal cancer has increasingly appeared at younger ages than in the past.

This led the American College of Gastroenterology to advise the general population without a family history or symptoms to begin regular colon and rectal screening at the age of 45.

Rectal Cancer | Description & Treatment:

Cancer of the rectum – the final part of the large intestine, about 15 centimeters long – has a different treatment than the rest of the large intestine. This is because the rectum is located low in the pelvis and is considered an organ outside the peritoneal cavity.

As a result, many patients with locally advanced disease are offered preoperative chemotherapy and radiation. For definitive treatment, surgery is almost always necessary.

Its main goals are to prolong patient survival, minimize local recurrence, and optimize all functional parameters that constitute the quality of life of patients, such as avoiding a permanent stoma and maintaining intact urological and sexual function of patients after surgery.

Thus, when rectal cancer is deemed resectable, the surgeon will perform a low anterior resection, that is, he will surgically remove the diseased part of the rectum and the entire perirectal fat with the lymph nodes and will restore the continuity of the digestive tract by creating an anastomosis between the healthy ends of the intestine.

The modern specialized surgeon values ​​more and aims to maintain the best possible level of quality of life after surgery for rectal cancer, by performing “sphincter-sparing” operations.

Such types of surgical operations aim to restore intestinal continuity and preserve the sphincter mechanism, without, however, compromising the oncological adequacy of the surgery.

Thus, abdominoperineal resection, which includes the complete removal of the anal canal with the surrounding sphincter and, ultimately, the creation of a permanent colostomy, which once constituted the “gold standard” of surgical treatment of rectal cancer, is performed less and less frequently by colorectal surgeons, who prefer the more technically difficult, but with a more satisfactory result for patients, “very low” resections or even local resections.

Specialization and organized hospital structures at the service of the patient:

Now, the largest and most specialized colorectal surgery centers in Europe and the U.S. offer patients minimally invasive surgical techniques, such as laparoscopic and robotic surgery.

Specifically, robotic surgery, which is the most advanced technology, gives the surgeon a stable three-dimensional image, ergonomics and enormous comfort in the movements of the surgical instruments.

In this particular operation, the robotic platform offers unparalleled advantages because the pelvis is a remote and narrow area (especially in men) where most surgical procedures are performed.

Ultimately, with the use of this technology, the experienced and specialized surgeon can manage to perform the entire operation robotically without conversion to open surgery, blood loss is minimal, postoperative complications such as surgical wound infection are minimal and the possibility of an unnatural seat is extremely small.

At Athens Medical Center we use the latest in Robotic Technology, offering, among other things, the most modern solution in robotic surgeries, Da Vinci XI HD, a special order for the Athens Medical Center.

The combination of our specialization and many years of experience, which exceeds 1000 colon and rectal surgeries, and excellent technology such as the “firefly” technology have allowed us to avoid performing a temporary ileostomy in patients with an anastomosis low in the rectum.

Thus, our patients avoid the discomfort and complications of ileostomy on the one hand, but mainly the need for a second surgery after a few months for closure.All of this has established the General, Oncology, Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery Clinic of the Athens Medical Center as a pioneer in the above field. It is worth noting the recognition of our Clinic, at an international level, both through international collaborations, but also its status as a Reference and Training Center in Robotic Surgery.