Clinical trial · Observational
Anterior Resection Syndrome Following Sphincter-preserving Surgery
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK in both males and females. The rectum is the most commonly affected part of the bowel. Improvements in surgery have meant that many patients with rectal cancer can now undergo surgery that removes the rectum and avoids a permanent stoma. The operation that most patients have is an anterior resection of the rectum. Unfortunately this surgery frequently leads to a change in bowel function, with patients suffering from incontinence, urgency and unpredictability a problem known as anterior resection syndrome. These problems are believed to be fairly common following surgery but follow up appointments have traditionally concentrated on ensuring that the cancer has not returned and have not reviewed functional outcomes in enough detail. Because of this we are unsure exactly how common the problems described are. The proposed study will allow us to determine how many patients have ongoing symptoms following their surgery for rectal cancer. It will also allow us to use a newly developed scoring system the Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS) score for the first time in a UK population, to ensure that it can accurately be used in the future to measure the problem and aid development of new therapies. An appreciation of the impact of symptoms on postoperative quality of life will encourage routine assessment of functional outcomes in clinical practice, allowing identification of patients who may benefit from treatment.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rectal Cancer | Malignant Rectal Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
Interventions
Interventions (0)
Data not yet available
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- label
- Anterior resection
- description
- Patients having had an anterior resection for rectal cancer who are more than 12 months post surgery
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Number of participants with no LARS; minor LARS and major LARS
- timeFrame
- At the time of questionnaire completion
- description
- This will allow us to determine the prevalence of Low Anterior Resection Syndrome
Secondary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Correlation between LARS score and EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire score
- timeFrame
- At the time of questionnaire completion
- description
- The association between the LARS score and The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) generic quality of life questionnaire QLQC30 will be used to establish validity of the LARS score. Ability of the score to differ between patient groups known to differ in postoperative function (for example, those who have had radiotherapy and those who have not) will also be used to assess validity.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients having had an anterior resection for rectal cancer who are more than 12 months post surgery * Patients who are more than 12 months post reversal of any defunctioning stoma * Aged over 18 years Exclusion Criteria: * Any inclusion criteria not met * Presence of a stoma * Local recurrence of cancer * Current adjuvant therapy * Further rectal surgery after the initial operation * Insufficient written English to participate
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available