Retrospective study of active drainage in the management of anastomotic leakage after anterior resection for rectal cancer

Objective Anastomotic leakage (AL) is the most serious postoperative complication following anterior resection for rectal cancer. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of active drainage for the management of AL. Methods This was a retrospective study using information from a database of patients who underwent colorectal resection without a defunctioning ileostomy at our center between September 2013 and January 2021. We identified 122 cases with definitive AL who did not require revision emergent laparotomy. Among these patients, we evaluated those who received active drainage to replace the original passive drainage. Results There were 62 cases in the active drainage group and 60 cases in the passive drainage group. The active drainage group had a shorter mean AL spontaneous resolution time (26.9 +/- 3.3 vs. 32.2 +/- 4.8 days) and lower average hospitalization costs (82,680.6 vs. 92,299.3 renminbi (RMB)) compared with the passive drainage group, respectively. Moreover, seven patients in the passive drainage group subsequently underwent diverting stoma to resolve the Al, while all ALs resolved spontaneously after replacing the passive drainage with active drainage. Conclusions Our study suggests that active drainage may accelerate the spontaneous resolution of AL.