Study Design and participants
stoma, Colorectal Cancer, colon or rectal cancer
COLORECTAL CANCER, METASTATIC DISEASE
This single-center randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Colorectal Cancer Clinic, a tertiary referral center in Seoul, Korea. We recruited participants between February 5, 2014 and September 23, 2016. Inclusion criteria were (1) stage I-III colon or rectal cancer; (2) 19–70 years of age; (3) American Society of Anesthesiologist grade ≤ 3 at surgery; and (4) the ability to read and understand Korean. Primary exclusion criteria included (1) evidence of recurrent or metastatic disease; (2) postsurgical intensive care unit stay; (3) presence of a stoma after colectomy; and (4) open surgery. All patients who met our inclusion criteria were approached, and those who agreed to participate were recruited into our study. The Institutional Ethics Review Board of Severance Hospital approved the trial (IRB No. 4-2013-0868, 02/05/2014) and the trial was registered at 