Abstract
BACKGROUND
Transanal stapled procedures are increasingly being used. Several postoperative complications can be referred to their application, including those related to the presence of retained staples at the level of the staple line.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to assess whether the removal of the retained staples is a useful approach to improve some of the most common postoperative complications of these surgical techniques.
DESIGN
This is a retrospective study.
SETTINGS
The study was conducted at the One-Day Surgery Unit of St. Andrea Hospital.
PATIENTS
All of the patients who underwent a stapled transanal procedure from January 2003 to December 2011 were included in the study. Patients included in the study were followed postoperatively for 1 year after surgery to identify the presence of retained staples.
INTERVENTIONS
If identified, the retained staples were removed endoscopically or transanally.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
After the staple removal, patients were followed with biweekly office visit for 2 months to evaluate the progression of symptoms.
RESULTS
From the 566 patients included in the study, 165 experienced postoperative complications, and in 66 of these cases, retained staples were found and removed. With the removal of retained staples, symptoms were almost all resolved or improved. In only 1 case did the retained staples removal not modify the symptoms.
LIMITATIONS
The study design may have introduced potential selection bias. In addition, the study was limited by the lack of a specific questionnaire for the evaluation of symptoms improvement.
CONCLUSIONS
The removal of the retained staples is an efficacious and safe procedure to solve or improve postoperative complications and should be always considered.
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