Association between Anastomotic Leak after Anterior Resection of Colorectal Cancer and Local Recurrence or Metastasis

Objective To analyze the association of colorectal anastomotic leakage with tumor recurrence or metastasis.Methods Totally 846 patients received anterior resection during the period January 1999 to December 2006 were studied,among them 48 cases suffered anastomotic leakage.The effect of anastomotic leakage on five-year survival and local recurrence was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test.Results Totally 48 patients suffered anastomotic leakage.Local recurrence: 31.25 percent in the leak group,and 21.68 percent in the nonleak group(P=0.018).There was significant difference five-year survival and disease free survival between the leak and nonleak groups.Conclusion After rectal anastomosis,an anastomotic leak is associated with a significant increase in local recurrence or metastasis.