Anastomotic leakage (AL) is one of the inevitable and severe complications after laparoscopic-assisted anterior resection of low rectal cancer. With the improvement of surgical technology and cognitive concept, the position of sigmoid-rectal anastomosis is becoming lower and lower, and the problem of AL is more challenging. Preventive stoma is currently a common method to deal with AL, but over-reliance on stoma and the stoma-related complications have also troubled surgeons. Based on years of practical experience, we summarized how to avoid unnecessary stoma through the risk assessment scale, and how to detect and deal with AL in the early stage of laparoscopic-assisted anterior resection of low rectal cancer.