Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Aug 27, 2026; 18(8): 118525
Published online Aug 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.118525
Published online Aug 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.118525
Pelvic floor rehabilitation improves anorectal function after sphincter-preserving surgery for low rectal cancer
Xiao-Jun Liu, Jing-Jing Qin, Wound and Ostomy Outpatient Clinic, The Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an/The Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Huai’an 223600, Jiangsu Province, China
Ming-Li Wei, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an/The Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Huai’an 223600, Jiangsu Province, China
Li-Li Liu, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Huai’an First People’s Hospital, Huai’an 223002, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Liu XJ contributed to patient recruitment and follow-up, rehabilitation protocol implementation, drafting of the original manuscript; Wei ML contributed to perioperative management, surgical data acquisition, critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; Liu XJ and Liu LL contributed to data collection; Liu LL contributed to anorectal function assessment, statistical analysis, critical revision of the manuscript; Liu XJ and Qin JJ contributed to conceptualization; Qin JJ contributed to study design, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, final approval of the version to be published. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Grammarly was used for language polishing, and DeepL was used for translation assistance. These tools were applied only to improve language clarity and did not contribute to scientific content, data analysis, or interpretation.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of The Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an (approval No. HEYLL2025126).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Jing-Jing Qin, Wound and Ostomy Outpatient Clinic, The Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an/The Affiliated Huai’an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, No. 62 Huaihai South Road, Huai’an 223600, Jiangsu Province, China. 05130217@163.com
Received: January 30, 2026
Revised: March 12, 2026
Accepted: May 20, 2026
Published online: August 27, 2026
Processing time: 196 Days and 15.1 Hours
Revised: March 12, 2026
Accepted: May 20, 2026
Published online: August 27, 2026
Processing time: 196 Days and 15.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Postoperative anorectal dysfunction is one of the most difficult problems associated with sphincter-preserving surgery for low rectal cancer after temporary fecal diversion. In this retrospective study we demonstrate that a preoperative and postoperative structured pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation program enhances anorectal manometric parameters in addition to fecal continence and bowel function recovery as well as quality of life. These results reinforce the routine integration of pelvic floor rehabilitation in postoperative care in order to optimize functional outcomes for these patients.