Case series of in situ pelvic floor reconstruction combining levator ani suture and negative pressure wound therapy for abdominoperineal resection

BACKGROUND: Abdominoperineal resection (APR) is a standard surgical technique for low rectum cancer with a low recurrence rate. There are some problems associated with APR such as perineal hernia and perineal surgical site infection. Recently, the prophylactic efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for surgical site infection has been reported. Herein, we analyzed the efficacy of in situ pelvic floor reconstruction combining levator ani suture and NPWT after APR for perineal hernia and perineal surgical site infection. METHODS: We analyzed six patients treated by laparoscopic APR with NPWT combined with levator ani suture retrospectively. The primary endpoints were surgical site infection within 30 days and perineal hernia within 1 year after surgery. The day following surgery, we performed NPWT for the perineal wound using the VAC(®) abdominal wound management system (KCI, San Antonio, TX, USA). RESULTS: There were four male and two female patients ranging in age from 69 to 86 years (mean: 76 years). The mean NPTW duration was 17 days (13–20 days). The length of the postoperative hospital stay was 14–22 days (median: 18 days). There was no patient with surgical site infection within 30 days or with perineal hernia within 1 year after surgery. CONCLUSION: We experienced the in situ pelvic floor reconstruction combining levator ani suture and NPWT after laparoscopic APR for perineal hernia and perineal surgical site infection. This combination treatment was safe and may be effective for preventing surgical site infection and perineal hernia.