Retrorectal tumors, although rare, pose diagnostic and treatment challenges due to their nonspecific symptoms and complex anatomical location. This single-center case series reports short-term outcomes of laparoscopic transabdominal resection as a surgical approach for large retrorectal tumors. Between 2017 and 2020, five patients underwent this procedure. The median patient age was 53.2 years (range, 34–60 years), and the median operating time was 130 minutes (range, 95–205 minutes). All tumors were located in the retrorectal space. The median tumor size was 5.8 × 4.3 cm (range, 3.5–7.5 cm). Biopsy results included epidermoid cysts, tailgut cyst, lipoma, and keratinous cyst. The median hospital stay was 7.8 days (range, 5–11 days), and the median follow-up duration was 78.0 days (range, 14–219 days). One patient developed a postoperative surgical site infection. Overall, laparoscopic transabdominal resection appears to be a minimally invasive and effective treatment option for retrorectal tumors.

Retrorectal tumors, although rare, pose diagnostic and treatment challenges due to their nonspecific symptoms and complex anatomical location. This single-center case series reports short-term outcomes of laparoscopic transabdominal resection as a surgical approach for large retrorectal tumors. Between 2017 and 2020, five patients underwent this procedure. The median patient age was 53.2 years (range, 34–60 years), and the median operating time was 130 minutes (range, 95–205 minutes). All tumors were located in the retrorectal space. The median tumor size was 5.8 × 4.3 cm (range, 3.5–7.5 cm). Biopsy results included epidermoid cysts, tailgut cyst, lipoma, and keratinous cyst. The median hospital stay was 7.8 days (range, 5–11 days), and the median follow-up duration was 78.0 days (range, 14–219 days). One patient developed a postoperative surgical site infection. Overall, laparoscopic transabdominal resection appears to be a minimally invasive and effective treatment option for retrorectal tumors.

Retrorectal tumors, although rare, pose diagnostic and treatment challenges due to their nonspecific symptoms and complex anatomical location. This single-center case series reports short-term outcomes of laparoscopic transabdominal resection as a surgical approach for large retrorectal tumors. Between 2017 and 2020, five patients underwent this procedure. The median patient age was 53.2 years (range, 34–60 years), and the median operating time was 130 minutes (range, 95–205 minutes). All tumors were located in the retrorectal space. The median tumor size was 5.8 × 4.3 cm (range, 3.5–7.5 cm). Biopsy results included epidermoid cysts, tailgut cyst, lipoma, and keratinous cyst. The median hospital stay was 7.8 days (range, 5–11 days), and the median follow-up duration was 78.0 days (range, 14–219 days). One patient developed a postoperative surgical site infection. Overall, laparoscopic transabdominal resection appears to be a minimally invasive and effective treatment option for retrorectal tumors.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in Korea and the third leading cause of death from cancer. Treatment outcomes for colon cancer are steadily improving due to national health screening programs with advances in diagnostic methods, surgical techniques, and therapeutic agents.. The Korea Colon Cancer Multidisciplinary (KCCM) Committee intends to provide professionals who treat colon cancer with the most up-to-date, evidence-based practice guidelines to improve outcomes and help them make decisions that reflect their patients’ values and preferences. These guidelines have been established by consensus reached by the KCCM Guideline Committee based on a systematic literature review and evidence synthesis and by considering the national health insurance system in real clinical practice settings. Each recommendation is presented with a recommendation strength and level of evidence based on the consensus of the committee.

Purpose: Rectal prolapse is a benign disease in which the rectum protrudes below the anus. Although many studies have been reported on the treatment of primary rectal prolapse for many years, there is a lack of treatment or clinical research results on recurrent rectal prolapse. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of surgical approaches for recurrent rectal prolapse. Methods: We studied patients who underwent surgical treatment for recurrent rectal prolapse disease from March 2016 to February 2021. We analyzed the previous operation methods in patients with recurrent rectal prolapse, as well as the operation time, complication rate, hospital stay, and re-recurrence rates in the perineal and abdominal approach groups. Results: Out of a total of 239 patients, 41 patients who underwent surgery for recurrent rectal prolapse were retrospectively enrolled. Recurrent rectal prolapses were surgically treated either by the perineal approach (n = 25, 61.0%) or by the abdominal approach (n = 16, 39.0%). The operation times were significantly longer in the abdominal approach than in the perineal approach (98.44 minutes vs. 58.00 minutes, P = 0.001). Hospital stay was significantly longer in the abdominal approach than in the perineal approach (9.19 days vs. 6.00 days, P = 0.012). Re-recurrence rate after repeat repair was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.777). Conclusion Although the perineal approach shortened the operation time and hospital stay, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups in postoperative complications and re-recurrence rate. Both approaches can be good surgical options for the treatment of recurrent rectal prolapse.

Purpose: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common hematologic malignancy worldwide. Although substantial improvement has been achieved by the frontline rituximab-based chemoimmunotherapy, up to 40%-50% of patients will eventually have relapsed or refractory disease, whose prognosis is extremely dismal. Materials and Methods: We have carried out two prospective cohort studies that include over 1,500 DLBCL patients treated with rituximab plus CHOP (#NCT01202448 and #NCT02474550). In the current report, we describe the outcomes of refractory DLBCL patients. Patients were defined to have refractory DLBCL if they met one of the followings, not achieving at least partial response after 4 or more cycles of R-CHOP; not achieving at least partial response after 2 or more cycles of salvage therapy; progressive disease within 12 months after autologous stem cell transplantation. Results: Among 1,581 patients, a total of 260 patients met the criteria for the refractory disease after a median time to progression of 9.1 months. The objective response rate of salvage treatment was 26.4%, and the complete response rate was 9.6%. The median overall survival (OS) was 7.5 months (95% confidence interval, 6.4 to 8.6), and the 2-year survival rate was 22.1%±2.8%. The median OS for each refractory category was not significantly different (p=0.529). Conclusion In line with the previous studies, the outcomes of refractory DLBCL patients were extremely poor, which necessitates novel approaches for this population.

Purpose: Febrile neutropenia (FN) can cause suboptimal treatment and treatment-related mortality (TRM) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (R-CHOP). Materials and methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate the effectiveness of pegfilgrastim prophylaxis in DLBCL patients receiving R-CHOP, and we compared them with the PROCESS cohort (n=485). Results: Since January 2015, 986 patients with DLBCL were enrolled. Pegfilgrastim was administered at least once in 930 patients (94.3%), covering 90.3% of all cycles. FN developed in 137 patients (13.9%) in this cohort (23.7% in the PROCESS cohort, p<0.001), and 4.2% of all cycles (10.2% in the PROCESS cohort, p<0.001). Dose delay was less common (≥3 days: 18.1% vs. 23.7%, p=0.015; ≥5 days: 12.0% vs. 18.3%, p=0.023) in this cohort than in the PROCESS cohort. The incidence of TRM (3.2% vs. 5.6%, p=0.047) and infection-related death (1.8% vs. 4.5%, p=0.004) was lower in this cohort than in the PROCESS cohort. The 4-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates of the two cohorts were not different (OS: 73.0% vs. 71.9%, p=0.545; PFS: 69.5% vs. 68.8%, p=0.616). However, in patients aged ≥75 years, the 4-year OS and PFS rates were higher in this cohort than in the PROCESS cohort (OS: 49.6% vs. 33.7%, p=0.032; PFS: 44.2% vs. 30.3% p=0.047). Conclusion Pegfilgrastim prophylaxis is effective in the prevention of FN and infection-related death in DLBCL patients receiving R-CHOP, and it also improves OS in patients aged ≥75 years.

Background/Aims: The adenoma detection rate (ADR) does not reflect the complete detection of every adenoma during colonoscopy; thus, many surrogate indicators have been suggested.This study investigated whether the ADR and surrogate quality indicators reflect the adenoma miss rate (AMR) when performing qualified colonoscopy. Methods: We performed a prospective, multicenter, cross-sectional study of asymptomatic examinees aged 50 to 75 years who underwent back-to-back screening colonoscopies by eight endoscopists. The ADR and surrogate quality indicators, including polyp detection rate, total number of adenomas per colonoscopy, additional adenomas found after the first adenoma per colonoscopy (ADR-Plus), and total number of adenomas per positive participant, were calculated for the prediction of AMR. Results: A total of 371 back-to-back colonoscopies were performed. There was a significant difference in ADRs (range, 44% to 75.4%; p=0.024), polyp detection rates (range, 56% to 86.9%; p=0.008) and adenomas per positive participants (range, 1.19 to 2.30; p=0.038), and a tendency of a difference in adenomas per colonoscopy (range, 0.62 to 1.31; p=0.051) and ADR-Plus (range, 0.13 to 0.70; p=0.054) among the endoscopists. The overall AMR was 20.1%, and AMRs were not different (range, 13.9 to 28.6; p>0.05) among the endoscopists. No quality indicators were significantly correlated with AMR. The number of adenomas found during the first colonoscopy was an independent factor for increased AMR (odds ratio, 1.79; p<0.001). Conclusions The colonoscopy quality indicators were significantly different among high-ADR endoscopists, and none of the quality indicators reflected the AMR of good quality colonoscopy performances. The only factor influencing AMR was the number of adenomas detected during colonoscopy.

Congenital factor V (FV) deficiency is a rare hemorrhagic disorder that can cause excessive bleeding during and after surgery in the affected patient. This report is the case of a patient who had FV deficiency with recurrent posthemorrhoidectomy bleeding treated with the hemostatic procedure and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusions. A 45-year-old male patient had previously undergone hemorrhoidectomy for multiple hemorrhoids at a local hospital. Hemorrhoidectomy was successful; however, he was transferred to our hospital for evaluation of the origin of the recurrent posthemorrhoidectomy bleeding and underwent a hemostatic procedure. This bleeding was treated with coagulation using electrocautery, multiple sutures, and FFP transfusion (1,600 mL/day) for 7 consecutive days. The patient’s plasma FV activity was 23%. Early detection of clotting factor deficiency in patients with hemorrhagic events after surgical treatments may prevent unnecessary procedures such as reoperations and minimize the cost of replacement therapy such as large-volume FFP transfusion.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between high-output stomas (HOSs), postoperative ileus (POI), and readmission after rectal cancer surgery with diverting ileostomy. Methods: We included 302 patients with rectal cancer who underwent restorative resection with diverting ileostomy between January 2011 and December 2015. HOSs were defined as stomas with ≥ 2,000 mL/day output. We analyzed predictive factors for readmission of these patients. Results: Forty-eight patients (15.9%) had HOSs during the hospital stay, and 41 patients (13.6%) experienced POI. HOSs were strongly associated with POI (45.8% vs. 7.5%, P < 0.001). The all-cause readmission rate was 16.9%, with 19 (6.3%) and 20 (6.6%) experiencing ileus and acute kidney injury, respectively. HOSs (27.1% vs. 15.0%, P = 0.040) and POI (34.1% vs. 14.2%, P = 0.002) were associated with all-cause readmission, and POI was associated with readmission with ileus (17.1% vs. 4.6%, P = 0.007). POI was an independent risk factor for all-cause readmission (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.640; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.162 to 6.001; P = 0.020) and readmission with ileus (adjusted OR = 3.869; 95% CI 1.387 to 10.792; P = 0.010). Conclusion POI was associated with readmission, particularly for subsequent ileus, in patients with diverting ileostomy. We should make efforts to reduce POI, such as strong control of HOSs, to prevent readmission.