The simple “Rectum Catcher” device is a useful tool for laparoscopic-assisted high and lower rectal surgery

Abstract

This report describes our experience in 13 patients with rectal cancer along with a general overview of the use of the simple "Rectum Catcher" device in high and lower rectal surgery. The Rectum Catcher is made of stainless steel (length 40 cm, caliber 7 mm), with a circle of diameter 6 mm punched out at a distance of 5 mm from the top and covered with a short-cut T-tube (length 1 cm, caliber 6 mm) (SILKOLATEX T-tube, 8 mm; Willy Rusch AG, Germany). A vessel tape (width 9 mm, length 120 cm; Kawano Seisakusho, Chiba, Japan) is inserted into the stainless steel and the short-cut T-tube. The Rectum Catcher is inserted into the abdominal cavity through the 12-mm trocar (Ethicon Endo Surgery) and a vessel tape is circled the rectum and pulled to catch it. Thirteen patients with rectal cancer were operated laparoscopically using the Rectum Catcher at our hospital. From January 2007 to the present, this study included 13 patients (5 men and 8 women) undergoing laparoscopic-assisted high anterior resection (Lap-HAR, five patients), low anterior resection (Lap-LAR: six patients), and abdominoperineal resection (Lap-APR: two patients) for rectal cancer, using the Rectum Catcher. Using the Rectum Catcher, easy maneuverability of the rectum and irrigation of rectal lumen can be easily performed to safely cut the bowel being occluded, in the narrow laparoscopic view of the pelvic cavity. In our experience, the simple Rectum Catcher device is safe and useful for performing laparoscopic assisted high and lower rectal surgery.