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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2015; 21(41): 11700-11708
Published online Nov 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i41.11700
Transanal total mesorectal excision: A valid option for rectal cancer?
Nicolas C Buchs, Gary A Nicholson, Frederic Ris, Neil J Mortensen, Roel Hompes
Nicolas C Buchs, Gary A Nicholson, Neil J Mortensen, Roel Hompes, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Churchill Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals, OX3 7LE Oxford, United Kingdom
Nicolas C Buchs, Frederic Ris, Division of Visceral Surgery, Department of Surgery, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Gary A Nicholson, Neil J Mortensen, Nuffield Department of Surgical Science, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU Oxford, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Buchs NC and Hompes R designed the research; Buchs NC, Nicholson GA and Hompes R performed the research (acquisition of data); Buchs NC, Ris F, Mortensen NJ and Hompes R analyzed and interpreted the data; Buchs NC, Nicholson GA and Hompes R wrote the article; Nicholson GA, Ris F and Mortensen NJ revised the article; all authors gave their final approval.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Roel Hompes is a regular faculty member for TAMIS courses organized by Applied Medical. The other authors have no financial disclosure or conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Nicolas C Buchs, MD, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Churchill Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals, Old Road, OX3 7LE Oxford, United Kingdom. nicolas.c.buchs@hcuge.ch
Telephone: +44-18-65741841 Fax: +44-18-65235857
Received: April 21, 2015
Peer-review started: April 22, 2015
First decision: July 13, 2015
Revised: July 21, 2015
Accepted: September 14, 2015
Article in press: September 14, 2015
Published online: November 7, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: The current literature regarding transanal total mesorectal excision of the rectum (TaTME) is presented. Outcomes are encouraging. TaTME might be a promising alternative to laparoscopic TME, especially for difficult cases where laparoscopy is too demanding. The limitations and future developments are explored.