Studies on Postoperative Dysfunctions after Rectal Cancer Surgery

Abstract

Rectal cancer surgery not infrequently causes serious disturbances in defecation, urination and sexual function, postoperatively. We studied such postoperative dysfunctions in 73 patients by a questionnaire survey. The incidence of urinary dysfunction was affected by the type of operation and lymph node dissection. Particularly, abdominoperineal resection or iliopelvic lymphadenectomy caused serious disturbances. However, no dysfunction occurred in patients who underwent an autonomic nerve-preserving operation. Urinary dysfunction occurred less frequently in female patients. Sexual disturbances in postoperative patients were also affected by the type of operative procedure, occurring frequently after abdominoperineal resection or pull-through method. The older the patient, the more frequently sexual disturbances occurred. Moreover, their sexual life was mainly disturbed by psychological factors due to intestinal stoma. On the other hand, a considerable number of stoma patients complained of a peristomal skin disturbance and an odor of feces. Adequate preoperative marking of the stoma was considered important to avoid its malpositioning. © 1990, The Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery. All rights reserved.