An interventional study of Double-Stapled Anastomosis and Single-Stapled Anastomosis With Intracorporeal Purse-String in Rectal Cancer, sponsored by Alexandria University. Recruiting at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by Alexandria University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This study compares ways of joining the bowel after surgery for rectal cancer. It aims to find out whether using a single-stapling technique leads to fewer bowel leaks than using a double-stapling technique. It also compares two ways of placing the closing stitch used in the single-stapling technique.
The study will include 124 adults having planned surgery to remove rectal cancer while preserving the anus. After removing the affected part of the rectum, the surgeon joins the remaining bowel. A leak can occur if this join does not heal properly.
Participants will be assigned by chance during surgery to one of two techniques:
Double stapling: the surgeon closes the remaining rectum with a straight stapler, then uses a circular stapler to join the bowel.
Single stapling: the surgeon closes the remaining rectum with a drawstring-like stitch, then uses a circular stapler to join the bowel.
Participants assigned to single stapling will have a second assignment by chance. The surgeon will place the closing stitch either from inside the abdomen or through the anus.
The main outcome is a bowel leak that requires treatment within 30 days after surgery. Researchers will also compare other complications, recovery, findings from the removed cancer tissue, and whether the cancer returns locally during the first year.
Participants will be followed for 12 months after surgery. They will complete questionnaires about bowel function, bowel control, and quality of life at 6 and 12 months.
This prospective, single-center randomized controlled trial will be conducted at the Colorectal Unit, Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. It will compare single-stapled and double-stapled anastomoses following low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision for rectal adenocarcinoma. Within the single-stapling group, a second randomized comparison will evaluate intracorporeal versus transanal placement of the rectal stump purse-string suture.
The study addresses whether avoiding the intersection between linear and circular staple lines influences anastomotic healing. It will also examine whether the route of purse-string placement affects surgical outcomes, pathological measures of oncological resection, and patient-reported bowel function and quality of life.
Randomization will take place intraoperatively after the surgeon confirms curative resectability and technical feasibility of the allocated approaches. Participants will first be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to single stapling or double stapling. Participants allocated to single stapling will then undergo a second 1:1 randomization to intracorporeal or transanal purse-string placement. The planned allocation is therefore 62 participants to double stapling, 31 to single stapling with an intracorporeal purse-string, and 31 to single stapling with a transanal purse-string.
An independent statistician will prepare the computer-generated randomization sequence. Allocation will be concealed using sequentially numbered, sealed, opaque envelopes until intraoperative randomization. Operating surgeons cannot be blinded. Outcome assessors, including imaging assessors, pathologists, and research staff administering patient-reported outcome questionnaires, will be blinded to allocation. Participants will remain blinded where feasible.
Experienced colorectal surgeons will perform standardized total mesorectal excision. In the double-stapling group, the rectum will be divided and closed with a linear stapler before creation of the anastomosis with a circular stapler. In the single-stapling groups, the rectum will be divided without a linear stapler, and the open rectal stump will be closed with an intracorporeal or transanal purse-string before circular stapling. A defunctioning stoma may be created at the operating surgeon's discretion according to clinical risk factors, and its use will be recorded.
Anastomotic leaks will be defined and graded using the International Study Group of Rectal Cancer classification. The primary comparison will assess clinically significant leaks requiring active treatment without relaparotomy or requiring relaparotomy, corresponding to Grade B or Grade C, within 30 days after surgery. Other postoperative complications will be classified using the Clavien-Dindo system.
Follow-up will assess postoperative recovery, anastomotic complications, pathological resection findings, and local recurrence through one year. Bowel function, fecal continence, and quality of life will be assessed using the Low Anterior Resection Syndrome score, Wexner incontinence score, and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 questionnaire at 6 and 12 months after surgery.
The sample size is based on the primary comparison between the combined single-stapling group and the double-stapling group. The primary analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle, with a supplementary per-protocol analysis. Prespecified adjusted analyses will account for relevant clinical and operative factors. The intracorporeal versus transanal purse-string comparison will be analyzed separately within participants randomized to single stapling.
2,400 studies on the registry are indexed under Rectal Neoplasms; 587 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 124 is above the median of 65 across 1,751 interventional studies indexed under Rectal Neoplasms.
Browse Rectal Neoplasms studies →Alexandria University is the lead sponsor of 604 studies on the registry; 140 are open to participants now.
Of its 13 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Histologically or cytologically confirmed
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ASA physical status
The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will undergo low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision, followed by rectal transection and closure using a linear stapler. A transanally introduced circular stapler will then be used to create the colorectal or coloanal anastomosis. Planned enrollment is 62 participants.
Procedure: Double-Stapled Anastomosis
Participants will undergo low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision. The rectum will be transected without a linear stapler, and a manual purse-string suture will be placed intracorporeally to close the open rectal stump. A transanally introduced circular stapler will then be used to create the colorectal or coloanal anastomosis. Planned enrollment is 31 participants.
Procedure: Single-Stapled Anastomosis With Intracorporeal Purse-String
Participants will undergo low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision. The rectum will be transected abdominally without a linear stapler, and a purse-string suture will be placed through the anus to close the open rectal stump. A transanally introduced circular stapler will then be used to create the colorectal or coloanal anastomosis. Planned enrollment is 31 participants.
Procedure: Single-Stapled Anastomosis With Transanal Purse-String
Following low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision, a linear stapler will be used to transect and close the rectal stump. A circular stapler introduced through the anus will then be used to construct the colorectal or coloanal anastomosis.
Also known as: DST
Following low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision, the rectum will be transected using scissors or an energy device without linear stapling. A manual intracorporeal purse-string suture will be placed around the open rectal stump. A circular stapler introduced through the anus will then be used to construct the colorectal or coloanal anastomosis.
Also known as: SST-IC
Following low anterior resection with total mesorectal excision, the rectum will be transected abdominally without linear stapling. A purse-string suture will be placed transanally around the open rectal stump. A circular stapler introduced through the anus will then be used to construct the colorectal or coloanal anastomosis.
Also known as: SST-TA
Clinically Significant Anastomotic Leak Within 30 Days
Percentage of participants with an anastomotic leak classified as Grade B or Grade C according to the International Study Group of Rectal Cancer classification. Grade B requires active treatment without relaparotomy, and Grade C requires relaparotomy. The primary comparison will be between the combined single-stapling group and the double-stapling group.
Time frame: Within 30 days after surgery
Postoperative Complications According to the Clavien-Dindo Classification
Percentage of participants experiencing postoperative complications, with severity classified using the Clavien-Dindo system. Complications will be assessed cumulatively at 30 and 90 days after surgery, and the highest complication grade experienced by each participant will be recorded at each assessment.
Time frame: Within 30 and 90 days after surgery
Operative Time
Duration of the surgical procedure, measured in minutes.
Time frame: During the index operation
Estimated Intraoperative Blood Loss
Estimated volume of blood lost during the surgical procedure, measured in milliliters.
Time frame: During the index operation
Conversion From Minimally Invasive to Open Surgery
Percentage of participants whose planned minimally invasive procedure is converted to open surgery. The denominator will include participants in whom a minimally invasive approach was initially attempted.
Time frame: During the index operation
Postoperative Length of Hospital Stay
Number of days from the index operation to discharge from the index hospital admission.
Time frame: From surgery to up to 10 weeks
Bowel Function Assessed Using the Low Anterior Resection Syndrome Score
Bowel function will be assessed using the five-item Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS) score. Total scores range from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating worse bowel dysfunction. Scores of 0-20 indicate no LARS, 21-29 indicate minor LARS, and 30-42 indicate major LARS. Scores will be evaluated separately at each assessment.
Time frame: At 6 and 12 months after surgery
Fecal Incontinence Assessed Using the Wexner Incontinence Score
Fecal incontinence will be assessed using the Wexner (Cleveland Clinic) Incontinence Score. The five-item score evaluates incontinence to solid stool, liquid stool, and gas, pad use, and lifestyle alteration. Total scores range from 0 to 20, with 0 indicating no incontinence and higher scores indicating more severe incontinence. Scores will be evaluated separately at each assessment.
Time frame: At 6 and 12 months after surgery
Health-Related Quality of Life Assessed Using the EORTC QLQ-C30
Health-related quality of life will be assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Global health status/quality of life, functional scales, and symptom scales and items will be scored separately according to the scoring manual. Scores range from 0 to 100. Higher global health and functional scores indicate better quality of life or functioning; higher symptom scores indicate worse symptoms. Scores will be evaluated separately at each assessment.
Time frame: At 6 and 12 months after surgery
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