Understanding the surgical pitfalls in total mesorectal excision: Investigating the histology of the perirectal fascia and the pelvic autonomic nerves

摘要

Aim: Excellent understanding of fasciae and nerves surrounding the rectum is necessary for total mesorectal excision (TME). However, fasciae anterolateral to the rectum and surrounding the low rectum are still poorly understood. We studied the perirectal fascia enfolding the extraperitoneally located part of the rectum in en-bloc cadaveric specimens and the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) pelvic dataset, and describe implications for TME.