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REVIEW article

Front. Surg.
Sec. Colorectal and Proctological Surgery
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2024.1452223

Analyzing Postoperative Complications in Colorectal Cancer Surgery: A Systematic Review Enhanced by Artificial Intelligence

Provisionally accepted
Dan Andras Dan Andras Angela M. Lazar Angela M. Lazar Dragos Cretoiu Dragos Cretoiu Florian Berghea Florian Berghea *Dragos E. Georgescu Dragos E. Georgescu Valentin Grigorean Valentin Grigorean Simona R. Iacoban Simona R. Iacoban Bogdan Mastalier Bogdan Mastalier
  • Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Colorectal cancer stands as a predominant cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite progressive strides in surgical methodologies, the specter of postoperative complications is very large, significantly impacting both morbidity and mortality rates. This review aims to meticulously examine existing scholarly works to gauge the prevalence, severity, and therapeutic approaches to postoperative complications arising from colorectal cancer surgeries. Methods: Employing a systematic approach, this study reviewed 135 peerreviewed publications from the period of 2000 to 2023. The corpus was organized into categories reflective of the postoperative complications discussed: anastomotic leakage, portsite metastases, small bowel adhesions and obstructions, thrombosis, ileus, postoperative infections, urinary dysfunctions, and cardiovascular dysfunctions. Advanced artificial intelligence tools were leveraged for in-depth literature searches and semantic analyses to pinpoint research lacunae. Results: The analysis revealed that anastomotic leakage and postoperative infections garnered the majority of academic focus, representing 35% and 25% of the studies, respectively. Conversely, port-site metastases and cardiovascular dysfunctions were less frequently examined, accounting for merely 5% and 3% of the literature. The reviewed studies indicate a disparity in the reported prevalence rates of each complication, oscillating between 3% and 20%. Furthermore, the review identified a dearth of evidence-based management protocols, underscored by a pronounced heterogeneity in treatment guidelines. Conclusions: The literature is replete with analyses on anastomotic leakage and postoperative infections; however, there exists a glaring scarcity of exhaustive research on other postoperative complications. This review emphasizes the pressing need for uniform treatment guidelines and spotlights areas in dire need of further research, aiming at the comprehensive enhancement of patient outcomes following colorectal cancer surgery.

    Keywords: colorectal cancer, Postoperative Complications, Anastomotic leakage, artificial intelligence, improved surgical management

    Received: 20 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Andras, Lazar, Cretoiu, Berghea, Georgescu, Grigorean, Iacoban and Mastalier. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Florian Berghea, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.