Source: The Sixth Affiliated Hospital
Written by: Kang Liang, Dai Xi’an, Jian Wenyang
Translated by: Chen Wenhao, Kang Liang
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On September 21, 2014, the academic conference in the 24th International Colorectal Week was held in Changhai Hospital of Shanghai. The conference was the joint effort of the Colorectal Surgery Department of Changhai Hospital of Shanghai, Chinese Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Chinese Journal of Practical Surgery, etc.

Professor Wang Jianping, the chief of the Colorectal Department and also the honorary president of The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, was invited to preside over the conference and to present a keynote speech about a novel radical surgery of rectal cancer—Totally transanal total mesorectal excision (TTME) to the participants. More than 800 representatives of colorectal surgery from all over the country and world famous experts from the US, the UK, Italy and other countries enjoyed the presentation.

On the day after the speech, Professor Wang Jianping successfully demonstrated this novel surgery live, which was also broadcast to more than 2,000 audience in eight cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, etc. Professor Steven Wexner, former president of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS), was attracted by the live session and interacted with Professor Wang Jianping with great interest. He pointed out that the new surgery was the frontier and hot spot in current colorectal surgical field, which held promise for the future and might present the developing direction.


As Professor Wang Jianping introduced, the new surgery is the most advanced surgical technique in curing low rectal cancer at present, which has advantages in cosmetic effect without abdominal wound and faster recovery with less trauma, without impairing the radical principal of cancer surgery. However, up till now, only about 10 cases of such surgery have been reported, which were all scattered cases. And since it is an innovative technique without much experience, high requirement is proposed for the surgeons who are supposed to not only have grasped a good knowledge of anatomy but also be expert hands of laparoscopic surgery. For this reason, Professor Wang Jianping was very cautious to begin this novel surgery in human body before its feasibility and safety had been proven. And a series of preclinical experiments was performed earlier by the surgical team, such as dissecting pelvic specimens and performing simulate surgeries in several fresh frozen cadavers. It was not until they gained approval of the ethics committee and made a full preparation for about half year that they finally decided to apply this surgery to the first case of patient.

As far as we known, it was the first time that TTME was demonstrated live in an international conference and accomplished successfully, which represented the top level of our university in treating rectal cancer around the world.