Introduction
stoma
COMPLICATION, LEAKAGE
A defunctioning stoma significantly reduces the morbidity of anastomotic leakage (AL) in low anterior resection (LAR) with total mesorectal excision for rectal cancerThere is no clear evidence for the optimal timing of stoma reversal, and the majority of reports recommend a stoma for approximately 3 monthsA consistent feature in the method of randomization in the previous studies was a postsurgical randomization, which had a risk of patient selection and did not show the feasibility of early stoma reversal in general. Randomization before the index surgery was only used in one study from 2008, which included a mixture of patients with benign and malignant diseaseThe primary outcomes were morbidity and mortality measured by the Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI)