Long-Term Results after Anastomotic Leakage following Rectal Cancer Surgery: A Comparison of Treatment with Endo-Sponge and Transanal Irrigation

<b><i>Objective:</i></b> We aimed to evaluate long-term results in patients from regular health care treated with endoscopic transanal closure system, that is, endoscopic vacuum-assisted closure system (EVAC) compared to transanal irrigation. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> In this retrospective, medical chart-based, observational study, we included patients with anastomotic leakage after low anterior resection for rectal cancer from 3 Stockholm hospitals 2006–2016 and compared time to first stoma closure in a Kaplan-Meier model and the proportion of patients who were stoma-free at end of follow-up. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Anastomotic leakage was found in 81 patients who were followed up in median 5.9 years (min–max: 0.53–13). EVAC was used on 14 (17%) patients and transanal irrigation on 34 (42%) patients. The remaining 33 (41%) patients either got a permanent colostomy or were treated only with antibiotics and percutaneous drainage. Treatment with EVAC or transanal irrigation led to similar rates of stoma closure, both when comparing all patients, and when comparing patients with similar defects. At the end of follow-up, 43% of patients treated with EVAC and 50% of patients treated with repeated irrigation were stoma-free (<i>p</i> = 0.75). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> We found no evidence of better outcomes in patients treated with EVAC. The study was, however, limited by small sample size.