Introduction: Rectal cancer is the fifth most frequent neoplasm in both sexes in Portugal. With the evolution of preoperative imaging tests, surgical techniques and neoadjuvant therapy, anterior rectal resection (ARR) has become the gold standard in the treatment of this condition. Nevertheless, functional outcomes arise, namely the development of Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS). It is defined as LARS major when the LARS SCORE is calculated and a value greater than 30 is obtained. This study aims to determine the incidence of LARS in patients undergoing ARR for rectal cancer treatment at the Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal and to identify LARS predictors. Methods: A cohort retrospective study was conducted in rectal cancer patients electively undergoing ARR, from January 2019 to December 2020. The LARS diagnosis was made by applying the LARS score. Risk factors were assessed using the software SPSS® (Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test). Results: The studied population consisted of 60 patients, of whom 32 (53.3%) had LARS, and 6 patients (6.6%) had major LARS. Low intestinal anastomosis ( <0.001) and ileostomy ( <0.001) were identified as statistically significant LARS predictors. Conclusions: These results show that some clinical variables should be considered as predictive factors of LARS and need to be evaluated preoperatively when deciding which treatment to perform in each patient’s rectal cancer.

Revista Portuguesa de Cirurgia, No 57 (2024): July