UNLABELLED Anastomotic leak after anterior rectal resection for cancer is one of the most dangerous complications of the procedure. Protective stomy is a way to avoid life-threatening consequences of this complication. The procedure is still under evaluation.The aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of forming a protective stomy as part of anterior rectal cancer resection on the basis...

Editor: Maria Kapritsou. Received: June 18, 2014; rev From the Section of Colon a SHB, KYL, NKK), Departm tion Unit (DWK), Yonsei Uni Correspondence: Seung Hy University College of Me 120-752, Korea (e-mail: w The authors have no funding Copyright © 2014 Wolters Wilkins. This is an open ac Commons Attribution-NonCo it is permissible to downlo medium, provided it is prop any way or used commerci...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have shown that a protective stoma can reduce morbidity in low anterior resection for rectal cancer; however, the necessity of it is still controversially discussed. METHODS We performed this meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the role of defunctioning stoma in low anterior resection for rectal cancer on the rates of anastomotic leakage and reoper...