LAUSR

Background To investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics, surgical and imatinib management and long-term follow-up outcomes of the rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Methods Consecutive patients with rectal GISTs admitted in our center (from January 2013 to June 2018) were chosen. Their history information was viewed, and the follow-up results were obtained by phone or medical records. Results Forty-nine patients (32males and 17 females) were identified, with a median age of 59 years, and 36 patients received surgery. Most (46 patients, 93.9%) of the tumor were located within 6 cm from the anal verge, 18 patients (36.7%) had very low or low risk, and 31patients (63.3%) had intermediate or high risk. Four kinds of surgery approach were applied in our center: trans-abdominal (8 patients, 22.2%), trans-anal/trans-perineal (15 patients, 41.7%), trans-sacral (12 patients, 33.3%) and abdominal perineal (1 patient, 2.8%). The complication is low, and the mortality related to surgery is 0%. After a median follow-up of 705 days (ranged from 48 days to 1677 days), 3 patients (8.33%) were found to have a recurrence. Conclusions Trans-anal/trans-perineal and trans-sacral surgery were more commonly used in our study, and for now, the recurrence rate had no difference, but longer time for follow-up time is needed.