ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT00946205Updated Jul 9, 2015

Laparoscopic Rectopexy for Rectal Prolapse

An interventional study of Laparoscopic posterior rectopexy and Laparoscopic anterior mesh rectopexy in Rectal Prolapse, sponsored by Aarhus University Hospital. Completed at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-07-09.

Sponsored by Aarhus University Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
75
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of the present prospective, double-blind, randomized study is to study whether laparoscopic anterior mesh rectopexy is as good as laparoscopic posterior rectopexy with respect to obstructive defecation afterwards.

Read the detailed description

Full-thickness rectal prolapse is defined as a "falling down" of the rectum so that it is outside the body. Rectal prolapse can only be treated by surgery.

The choice of procedure depends on the patient's general condition and is based on a clinical judgment. Usually, elderly, high-risk patients are treated by perineal procedures. All other patients are offered an abdominal rectopexy using open or laparoscopic techniques. The general principle for all abdominal procedures is to induce adhesions between the mobilised, elevated rectum and the presacral fascia.

At least 30%-60% develop long-term complications: Obstructive defecation, which may be related to peroperative trauma to rectums innervation. Sparing of the lateral stalks during the rectal mobilisation results in lower frequency of obstructive defecation afterwards, but also higher recurrence rate.

A nerve-sparing laparoscopic technique for rectal prolapse has been developed in Belgium: Laparoscopic anterior mesh rectopexy.

After this procedure, the rate of obstructed defecations afterwards has been reported to less than 10%, that is, much lower than observed after other procedures.

The functional results after this nerve-sparing laparoscopic technique should be compared to those after laparoscopic posterior rectopexy, i.e. the conventional laparoscopic method.

02

Conditions studied

  • Rectal Prolapse

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • rectal prolapse
  • laparoscopic rectopexy
  • obstructed defecation
03

In context

Rectal Prolapse

55 studies on the registry are indexed under Rectal Prolapse; 12 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 75 is above the median of 55 across 34 interventional studies indexed under Rectal Prolapse.

Browse Rectal Prolapse studies →

Lead sponsor

Aarhus University Hospital is the lead sponsor of 298 studies on the registry; 80 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients with full-thickness rectal prolapse for whom the department otherwise would offer abdominal rectopexy according to the department's recommendation. That is, patient being fit for an abdominal rectopexy procedure.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age below 18 years.
  • Pregnancy or breast-feeding.
  • Patients who do not speak or read Danish.
  • Dementia or other psychiatric disease, i.e., inability to give .
  • Recurrence of rectal prolapse.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
75 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Laparoscopic anterior mesh rectopexy

    Procedure: Laparoscopic anterior mesh rectopexy

  • Active comparator
    Laparoscopic posterior rectopexy

    Procedure: Laparoscopic posterior rectopexy

Interventions

  • ProcedureLaparoscopic posterior rectopexy

    The rectum is mobilised down to the os coccygeus, then it is elevated cephalic and sutured with a multifilament suture to the presacral fascia just below the sacral promontory. The lateral stalks should be left intact.

  • ProcedureLaparoscopic anterior mesh rectopexy

    The peritoneum is incised over the right side of the promontory. The incision is extended in an inverted J-form along the right side of rectum and over the deepest part of the pouch of Douglas. Denonvilliers fascia is incised and the rectovaginal (women)/rectovesical (men) septum is broadly opened. A prosthetic mesh (3 x 17 cm) is sutured with nonabsorbable sutures to the ventral aspect of the rectum in the rectovaginal/rectovesical septum and to the lateral seromuscular borders of rectum and fixed upon the promontory using a stapler. The posterior fornix of vagina (women)/floor of the bladder (men) is elevated and sutured to the anterior aspect of the mesh. The incised peritoneum is then closed over the mesh.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The severity of obstructive defecation as graded by Wexner's incontinence- and constipation-score and Obstructed Defecation Syndrome score

    Time frame: 1 year postoperatively

Secondary outcomes

  1. Physiologic testing of the ano-rectum: Anorectal manometry,anal sensibility,anal ultrasound, colonic transit.

    Time frame: 1 year postoperatively

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Surgery P
    Aarhus, Aarhus C DK-8000, Denmark
08

References and documents

Publications

  • D'Hoore A, Cadoni R, Penninckx F. Long-term outcome of laparoscopic ventral rectopexy for total rectal prolapse. Br J Surg. 2004 Nov;91(11):1500-5. doi: 10.1002/bjs.4779. PubMed 15499644 ↗
  • Lundby L, Iversen LH, Buntzen S, Wara P, Hoyer K, Laurberg S. Bowel function after laparoscopic posterior sutured rectopexy versus ventral mesh rectopexy for rectal prolapse: a double-blind, randomised single-centre study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Dec;1(4):291-297. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(16)30085-1. Epub 2016 Oct 4. PubMed 28404199 ↗
09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Sep 2006, a primary completion of Feb 2015 and a completion of Jun 2015. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jul 22, 2009
First posted
Jul 24, 2009
Start
Sep 2006
Primary completionActual
Feb 2015
CompletionActual
Jun 2015
Last update
Jul 9, 2015
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 9, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00946205
Responsible party
Lene H. Iversen (MD, DMSci, PhD, Aarhus University Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 24, 2009
Start date
Sep 2006
Primary completion
Feb 2015
Completion
Jun 2015
Last update
Jul 9, 2015

Study contacts

Søren Laurberg, Professor
study chair · Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Surgery P

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2015. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion