Chronic rectal anastomosis complications prior to ileostomy reversal: development of a pilot classification system and associated outcomes

Abstract

Backgrounds: A loop ileostomy may reduce the severity of acute anastomotic complications after low rectal resection, but some patients have persistent rectal anastomotic problems. No consensus exists for the management of patients with a chronic low rectal anastomosis complication and a loop ileostomy. There is need for a standard description of these anastomotic complications and to determine whether it is safe to reverse the ileostomy. This study proposes a classification of chronic rectal anastomotic complications and to report the correlation with successful restoration of rectal continuity. Methods: This was a retrospective project from a prospectively maintained database at a single co..