Salvage abdominoperineal excisions in recurrent anal cancer—impact of different reconstruction techniques on outcome, morbidity, and complication rates

Background Squamous cell cancer of the anus (SCCA) is a rare disease of the gastrointestinal tract. Even though chemoradiation therapy is the treatment of choice, a substantial number of patients develop recurrent cancers or present with persisting SCCA. Therefore, abdominoperineal excisions as a salvage therapy are the only chance of cure. Patients and methods Hospital files of all patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the anus who underwent abdominoperineal excision performed at the Department of General and Visceral Surgery of the University Hospital Frankfurt between January 2003 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Results Fourteen (nine males, five females) patients underwent abdominoperineal resections for recurrent SCCA. In six patients, the pelvic floor was closed by direct suture, four patients underwent reconstruction using a vertical rectus abdominis myocutaneous (VRAM) flap, and four patients received a gluteal myocutaneous flap. Patients receiving flap-mediated closure revealed a median hospital stay of 26 days (range 13–60 days) compared to 11 days (range 9–30 days) in patients with direct closure ( p = 0.01). Two patients (14 %) suffered from wound infections (Dindo–Clavien II), whereas three patients (21 %) underwent up to seven reoperations for breakdown of their wounds and/or laparotomies (Dindo–Clavien IIIb). The calculated 5-year survival rate was 86 %. Patients with rpT0/T1 stage had a significantly longer survival compared to patients presenting with rpT2/T3/T4 tumors. Conclusion Abdominoperineal excisions in patients with recurrent SCCA can provide long-term local control and survival. The complication rate is not associated with the closure technique employed, but patients undergoing flap-mediated closure revealed a significantly longer hospital stay.