Clinical experience of EEA stapling in colorectal anastomosis

The authors reviewed their experiences with EEA-auto suture stapler in colorectal anastomosis for 26 patients (19 sigmoid cancers and 7 rectal cancers). All the patients received anterior resection. The technique and result in this series were compared to a previous series (85 cases including 68 sigmoid cancers and 17 rectal cancers) of conventional hand sewn suture. There was no leak in high anastomosis in both groups; 10% leak was found in low anastomosis with EEA stapler and 10.3% in the hand-sewn series. The other complications were compared and showed significant benefits in the stapling group. EEA stapling is a time-saving, securely efficient method for colorectal anastomosis and also could partly compensate the difficulty encountered in the low anastomosis by hand sewing. But the general principles of surgery for resection of colon-rectal cancer should be followed no matter what kind of anastomosis was chosen.