SynthesisColorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland2025
Association between anastomotic leak after rectal resection and bowel dysfunction, a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.
Synthesis in Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Single-stapling versus double-stapling technique for rectal anastomosis-meta-analysis.BJS open · 2026Pooled it
- Association between anastomotic leak after rectal resection and bowel dysfunction, a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prediction Scores for Anastomotic Leak Following Colorectal Surgery.Maedica · 2026Review
- Anastomotic leakage increases the risk of major low anterior resection syndrome 3 years after rectal cancer surgery.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2026Article
- Comparison of morbidity and mortality of abdominoperineal resection vs low anterior resection in rectal cancer.Journal of medicine and life · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnastomotic leak (AL) after colorectal anastomosis can be a risk factor for bowel dysfunction, namely low anterior resection syndrome (LARS). The present study aimed to assess bowel dysfunction in patients who developed AL after anterior resection compared to patients without AL.
methodsWe conducted a PRISMA-compliant systematic review of PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library for randomized and observational studies investigating the association between AL after anterior resection and bowel dysfunction. The main outcomes were LARS, faecal incontinence and urgency. Pairwise meta-analyses were conducted to calculate the relative risk (RR) of the study outcomes and their 95% confidence intervals (CI).
resultsThis review included 20 retrospective studies comprising 4764 patients (61.6% male, median age 63 years). AL was detected in 14% of patients and those who experienced AL had a higher risk of LARS (six studies; 1329 patients, RR: 1.27 95%CI: 1.02, 1.58, p = 0.035), major LARS (seven studies; 1395 patients, RR: 1.38, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.79, p = 0.012), urgency (five studies; 955 patients, RR: 1.15, 95%CI: 1.04, 1.27, p = 0.005) and had higher LARS scores (seven studies; 1450 patients, WMD: 6.64, 95%CI: 3.76, 9.52, p < 0.001) and Wexner incontinence scores (seven studies; 1045 patients, WMD: 1.72, 95%CI: 0.16, 3.28, p = 0.031).
conclusionBased on low to moderate certainty evidence, AL after colorectal and coloanal anastomoses was significantly associated with an increased risk of LARS, particularly major LARS, urgency and higher LARS and Wexner/Cleveland Clinic Florida-Fecal Incontinence Scores.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.