OBJECTIVETo study the relationship of mesorectum with fasciae and nerves in the pelvic cavity and to specify the proper planes of dissection in total mesorectal excision.

METHODSTwenty-four pelvises (12 males and 12 females) harvested from cadavers were studied by dissection.

RESULTSThere were three planes surrounding the rectum as the visceral fascia, vesicohypogastric fascia and parietal fascia. The pelvic plexus and its branches situated between the visceral fascia and the vesicohypogastric fascia. Pelvic splanchnic nerves and hypogastric nerves were observed between the visceral fascia and the parietal fascia.

CONCLUSIONSThe posterior plane of total mesorectal excision lies between the visceral fascia and the parietal fascia. The lateral dissection should be conducted in a plane between the visceral fascia and the vesicohypogastric fascia. The proper planes for posterior and lateral resection can be identified by the hypogastric nerve and the pelvic plexus respectively.

Fascia ; anatomy & histology ; Fasciotomy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mesentery ; anatomy & histology ; surgery ; Pelvis ; anatomy & histology ; surgery

Understanding of a variety of membranous structures throughout the body,such as the fascia,the serous membrane,is of great importance to surgeons. This is especially valuable in abdominal surgery. With the rise of membrane theory in recent years,membrane anatomy has been widely recognized in the treatment of abdominal tumors,especially of gastrointestinal tumors. In clinical practice. The appropriate choice of intramembranous or extramembranous anatomy is appropriate to achieve precision surgery. Based on the current research results,this article described the application of membrane anatomy in the field of hepatobiliary surgery,pancreatic surgery,and splenic surgery,with the aim of blazed the path from modest beginnings.
Humans ; Mesentery/surgery* ; Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Fascia/anatomy & histology*

Surgical or local anatomy consists of two components conventionally, organs and their blood supply. In fact, they are enveloped by the fascia membrane and serous membrane. This is the third component in surgical or local anatomy, which is omitted by surgeons for many years. The omitted reasons are failed recognition and unknown function. Re-understanding of the third component in surgical or local anatomy will make some changes in the local anatomy, tumor pathology, oncology surgery and operations. Firstly, the third component makes surgical anatomy developed from organ anatomy, blood vessel anatomy to membrane anatomy, which consists of the mesentery in broad sense and its bed, both include serous membrane and fascia membrane. Secondly, the third component provides the basic membrane anatomy of envelop cavity of metastasis V, and the impairment of its integrity will induce the mesentery cancer leakage of metastasis V in the operation field. Thirdly, based on the development of anatomy and pathology of the third component, cancer of alimentary tract can be divided into 3 types, the cancer in the mesentery, the cancer at the mesentery edge and the cancer outside the mesentery. Cancer outside the mesentery is in the field of oncology except complication of primary lesion, such as bleeding, perforation and obstruction. The main task of surgeons is to prevent the cancer leakage during operation, improve the cancer at the mesentery edge and perform radical operation for the cancer in the mesentery. Finally, the principle of radical operation for the cancer of alimentary tract should include the primary lesion resection, systematical lymphadenectomy and complete mesentery excision. Therefore, these principles should be classified into three kinds:(1) D type operation, which is only the concern about lymphadenectomy at D2 or D3 level and does not care about the completeness of the mesentery; (2) C type operation, which is only the concern about completeness of the mesentery, with only high tie of blood vessels, which does not care about ligation at the bifurcation; (3) D+C type operation, which is not only the concern about ligation at the bifurcation, but also about the completeness of the mesentery. Many aspects will change with surgical developments, especially with the membrane anatomy, the third component.
Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Fascia ; anatomy & histology ; Humans ; Ligation ; Lymph Node Excision ; Mesentery ; anatomy & histology ; surgery

Anatomy is the foundation of surgery. However, traditional anatomical concepts based on autopsy are no longer sufficient to guide the development of modern surgery. With the advancement of histology and embryology and application of high-resolution laparoscopic technology, surgical anatomy has gradually developed. Meanwhile, some important concepts and terms used to guide surgery have emerged, including: mesentery, fascia, and space. The confusing, controversial, and even inaccurate definitions and anatomical terms related to colorectal surgery seriously affect academic communication and the training of young surgeons. Therefore, the Chinese Society of Colorectal Surgeons, the Chinese Society of Colorectal Surgery, National Health Commission Capacity Building and Continuing Education Center, and China Sexology Association of Colorectal Functional Surgery organized colorectal surgeons to make consensus on the definition and terminology of mesentery, fascia, and space related to colon and rectum, to promote surgeons' understanding of modern anatomy related to colorectal surgery and promote academic communication.
Humans ; Rectum/surgery* ; Consensus ; Mesentery/anatomy & histology* ; Fascia/anatomy & histology* ; Colorectal Neoplasms

Anatomy is the foundation of surgical techniques. With the development of surgery, anatomy also divided into traditional anatomy, surgical anatomy and embryonic development anatomy. Complete mesocolic excision (CME) is one of classic radical operation for colon cancer, based on the modern anatomy. CME advocates correct operation plane, and describes the mobilization and separation of the colon together with the entire regional mesocolon. With the evolution of anatomy, the definition and content of CME-related anatomic landmarks such as mesentery, fascia and space have been changed. This article elaborates theses anatomical structures and their distribution, in order to improve the understanding of colorectal surgeons on CME-related traditional anatomy, surgical anatomy and embryonic developmental anatomy.
Colectomy ; Colonic Neoplasms ; surgery ; Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Fascia ; anatomy & histology ; Fasciotomy ; Humans ; Mesentery ; Mesocolon ; anatomy & histology ; surgery

The concept of radical surgery has experienced from vascular anatomy guidance, lymph node dissection guidance to en-bloc resection guidance. At present, the mesentery guided surgery has developed to a new level of understanding. There are many classical theories on the understanding of the mesentery, from "the mesentery is a wrapped composite structure" to "the mesentery is an organ" and then to "the generalized mesentery theory", but they do not clearly put forward the boundary mark of the mesentery. On the basis of various membrane anatomy theories at home and abroad, we summarized and defined three boundaries of mesenteric excision in radical resection of colorectal cancer. The lateral boundary of the mesentery is the intestinal resection boundary and its mesentery oriented by supplyvessel, the bottom boundary is the mesentery bed, and the central boundary is the degree of lymph node radical resection. Through the detailed description of the mesentery excision, it is helpful to accurately define the mesenteric margin in different stages of radical resection of tumors.
Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Mesentery/anatomy & histology* ; Gastrectomy ; Margins of Excision ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology*

The successful report of total mesorectal excision (TME)/complete mesocolic excision (CME) has encouraged people to apply this concept beyond colorectal surgery. However, the negative results of the JCOG1001 trial denied the effect of complete resection of the "mesogastrium" including the greater omentum on the oncological survival of gastric cancer patients. People even believe that the mesentery is unique in the intestine, because they have a vague understanding of the structure of the mesentery. The discovery of proximal segment of the dorsal mesogastrium (PSDM) proved that the greater omentum is not the mesogastrium, and further revised the structure (definition) of the mesentery and revealed its container characteristics, i.e. the mesentery is an envelope-like structure, which is formed by the primary fascia (and serosa) that enclose the tissue/organ/system and its feeding structures, leading to and suspended on the posterior wall of the body. Breakdown of this structure leads to the simultaneous reduction of surgical and oncological effects of surgery. People quickly realized the universality of this structure and causality which cannot be matched by the existing theories of organ anatomy and vascular anatomy, so a new theory and surgical map- membrane anatomy began to form, which led to radical surgery upgraded from histological en bloc resection to anatomic en bloc resection.
Humans ; Fascia/anatomy & histology* ; Laparoscopy ; Lymph Node Excision/methods* ; Mesentery/surgery* ; Mesocolon/surgery* ; Omentum ; Serous Membrane ; Clinical Trials as Topic

Objective: At present, surgeons do not know enough about the mesenteric morphology of the colonic splenic flexure, resulting in many problems in the complete mesenteric resection of cancer around the splenic flexure. In this study, the morphology of the mesentery during the mobilization of the colonic splenic flexure was continuously observed in vivo, and from the embryological point of view, the unique mesenteric morphology of the colonic splenic flexure was reconstructed in three dimensions to help surgeons further understand the mesangial structure of the region. Methods: A total of 9 patients with left colon cancer who underwent laparoscopic radical resection with splenic flexure mobilization by the same group of surgeons in Union Hospital of Fujian Medical University from January 2018 to June 2019 were enrolled. The splenic flexure was mobilized using a "three-way approach" strategy based on a middle-lateral approach. During the process of splenic flexure mobilization, the morphology of the transverse mesocolon and descending mesocolon were observed and reconstructed from the embryological point of view. The lower margin of the pancreas was set as the axis, and 4 pictures for each patient (section 1-section 4) were taken during middle-lateral mobilization. Results: The median operation time of the splenic flexure mobilization procedure was 31 (12-55) minutes, and the median bleeding volume was 5 (2-30) ml. One patient suffered from lower splenic vessel injury during the operation and the bleeding was stopped successfully after hemostasis with an ultrasound scalpel. The transverse mesocolon root was observed in all 9 (100%) patients, locating under pancreas, whose inner side was more obvious and tough, and the structure gradually disappeared in the tail of the pancreatic body, replaced by smooth inter-transitional mesocolon and dorsal lobes of the descending colon. The mesenteric morphology of the splenic flexure was reconstructed by intraoperative observation. The transverse mesocolon was continuous with a fan-shaped descending mesocolon. During the embryonic stage, the medial part (section 1-section 2) of the transverse mesocolon and the descending mesocolon were pulled and folded by the superior mesenteric artery (SMA). Then, the transverse mesocolon root was formed by compression of the pancreas on the folding area of the transverse mesocolon and the descending mesocolon. The lateral side of the transverse mesocolon root (section 3-section 4) was distant from the mechanical traction of the SMA, and the corresponding folding area was not compressed by the tail of the pancreas. The posterior mesangial lobe of the transverse mesocolon and the descending mesocolon were continuous with each other, forming a smooth lobe. This smooth lobe laid flat on the corresponding membrane bed composed of the tail of pancreas, Gerota's fascia and inferior pole of the spleen. Conclusions: From an embryological point of view, this study reconstructs the mesenteric morphology of the splenic flexure and proposes a transverse mesocolon root structure that can be observed consistently intraopertively. Cutting the transverse mesocolon root at the level of Gerota's fascia can ensure the complete resection of the mesentery of the transverse colon.
Colectomy/methods* ; Colon, Transverse/surgery* ; Colonic Neoplasms/surgery* ; Dissection ; Fascia/anatomy & histology* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Mesentery/surgery* ; Mesocolon/surgery* ; Pancreas/surgery* ; Photography ; Spleen/surgery*