Continuous intraoperative monitoring of pelvic autonomic nerves during total mesorectal excision (TME) to prevent urogenital dysfunction in rectal cancer patients (NEUROS)

• Applicant: Dr. Kai Kronfeld, since 10/2019
• Subject Area: General and Visceral Surgery
• Term: from 2008 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 45810360

Urinary, sexual and anorectal sequelae are frequent after rectal cancer surgery and were found to be related to intraoperative neurogenic impairment. Neuromonitoring methods have been developed to identify and preserve the complex pelvic autonomic nervous system in order to maintain patients´ quality of life. NEUROS is the first prospective randomized controlled clinical trial comparing the functional outcome in rectal cancer patients undergoing total mesorectal excision (TME) with and without pelvic intraoperative neuromonitoring (pIONM). This study will provide high quality evidence on the efficacy of pIONM aiming for improvement of functional outcome in rectal cancer patients undergoing TME.

• DFG Programme: Clinical Trials
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Werner Kneist, until 10/2019