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New procedure designed to monitor nerve damage
In the operation of rectal cancer, nerve injuries may occur, resulting in consequences such as impotence or fecal and urinary incontinence and a drastic loss of quality of life. Surgeons of the Mainz University Medical Center have therefore developed an innovative procedure that is used to monitor the nerves in endodermal cancer surgery and to help prevent corresponding nerve damage.
Every year, approximately 20,000 Germans develop rectal cancer in Germany, and for a large number of them radical removal of the tumor remains the only option, according to the Communication from the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. "However, such an intervention can cause pelvic nerve injuries that have a dramatic effect on bladder, sexual and defecation functions," warn the university's medical experts. Those affected threaten a significant loss of quality of life. To minimize this risk, the method for monitoring the nerves in rectal cancer surgery had been further developed by the Mainz surgeons.
Nervous injuries are relatively common in the operation of rectal cancer, which can subsequently impair sexual and bladder function as well as stool delivery. (Picture: Herrndorff / fotolia.com) Reduce risk of nerve injury during surgery
The physicians have developed the procedure for nerve monitoring within the framework of a project sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (autoPIN) for a minimally invasive application and have successfully tested it in a model experiment. The procedure allows a meaningful monitoring of the nerves and the nerve injury risk could be further reduced, reports the University Medical Center Mainz. The bladder, sexual function and defecation are controlled by nerve impulses and in minor pelvic surgery, the autonomic nerves are exposed to a particularly high risk of injury. After the operation of rectal cancer is therefore an increased rate of bladder and sexual dysfunction and stool evacuation, so the announcement of the University Medicine. The subsequently required treatment and rehabilitation costs in Germany will be estimated by experts at several million euros per year.
Real time monitoring of the nerve tracts
"In order to minimize the risk of nerve damage, surgeons at the Mainz University Medical Center and their technical partners have developed a nerve monitoring method that is linked to the endoscopic cancer surgery," reports Mainz University Medical Center. The patented procedure has been clinically used in Mainz since 2010. Now a further improvement succeeded. "In so-called intraoperative neuromonitoring, nerves are stimulated and thus made visible to the surgeon and the surgical team on monitors in the operating room," the experts from Mainz explain the basics of the procedure. The nerve monitoring can be very well combined with the minimally invasive preparation technique (keyhole surgery) and allows the surgeon in real time feedback on the nerve. In the new method, "the signal crucial for nerve monitoring can now be produced by a surface probe," according to the Department of Medicine.
Quality of life received after surgery
"The surface probe has been developed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute and the inomed Medizintechnik GmbH within the scope of the research project and enables the generation of even more meaningful neuromonitoring signals, as our investigations have shown in a pilot project", emphasizes Privatdozent Dr. med. Daniel Kauff from the Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery (AVTC) of the University Medical Center Mainz in the current press release. In addition, the probe can be attached quickly and conveniently or minimally invasively with a single movement, Kauff continues. The Director of AVTC, Univ.-Prof. Dr. According to Hauke Lang, every effort should be made to preserve the quality of life of patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery. Here is the new minimally invasive method of nerve monitoring in endometrial cancer surgery very promising. Therefore, the findings gained in the model experiment should now be directly examined in a clinical study, adds Professor Dr. med. Werner Kneist from the AVTC. (Fp)