Colorectal Surgery Issue

Emre Gorgun, MD

Ilker Ozgur, MD

We would like to thank Thieme and Dr. Kapoor for the opportunity to be the guest editors for this special issue of Digestive Diseases Interventions, on Colorectal Surgery. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies in both females and males. In this issue, we will focus on the management of colorectal cancer and provide an update for the latest advancements.

Widely adopted colorectal cancer screening programs increased the rate of polyp and early cancer detection. Thus, Dr. Abbas first focuses on preoperative workup, staging, and treatment planning of colorectal cancer. Dr. Ozgur describes special treatment options for large premalignant colorectal polyps. Subsequently, Dr. Lee discusses the utility of combined endoscopic and laparoscopic surgery as a treatment option for such lesions.

The quality and completeness of specimen after colorectal resection has a great impact on survival and complete mesocolic or total mesorectal excision with high vascular ligation and gaining popularity in minimal invasive surgery. Afterward, Dr. Baca focuses on robotic complete mesorectal excision.

Locally advanced rectal cancer treatment evolved in the last two decades, and more recently into nonoperative management. Dr. Neary focuses on neoadjuvant treatment evolution and nonoperative management of rectal cancer. There are several challenges in the surgical treatment of rectal cancers, such as narrow pelvis, distally located tumors. Transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) technique introduced several advantages for treatment in such surgical challenges. Dr. Spinelli describes through the evolution of TaTME technique and provides an update on the topic.

Synchronous colorectal cancer metastasis is sometimes puzzling the best treatment options. Dr. Bashankaev updates our knowledge and current trends in such clinical presentations. Dr. Lightner touches on the special condition of IBD and colorectal cancer coincidence. Lastly, Dr. Sommovilla discusses molecular genetics of colorectal cancer and focuses on early onset and hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes. Thus, we presented several up-to-date treatment strategies including latest trends for colorectal cancer. Furthermore, the issue includes wide range of updated information starting from preoperative preparation to latest trends in neoadjuvant treatment preferences. We are honored to present this issue with the hope that it will provide benefits and assist colorectal surgeons and other healthcare providers.

Finally, we thank all the authors for their significant contributions and expertise in assisting us providing such a valuable resource for our readers.

Publication History

Article published online:
22 February 2023