Background: Surgical resection with clear margins is the major predictor of long-term survival in recurrent rectal cancer. The extent of pelvic exenteration surgery depends on many factors including clinical and radiological criteria.
Objective: The aim of this study was to establish which clinical, MRI, and PET criteria were considered important by surgeons who perform pelvic exenteration surgery, when assessing a patient with recurrent rectal cancer for pelvic exenteration surgery.
Design: A 2-stage Delphi study was conducted among an international panel of 36 colorectal surgeons recruited via a snowball-sampling method. Surgeons rated the importance of 99 clinical and radiological criteria by using a 9-point scale.
Main outcome measures: Consensus was attained when at least 85% of the panel rated criteria within 3 points.
Results: Clinical factors suggestive of systemic disease, symptoms of advanced local recurrence such as pain, surgical fitness, and cognitive impairment were considered important by the panel when considering suitability for surgery. Agreement regarding the indication for surgery was reached for 20 radiological factors. Strong agreement was achieved for factors associated with tumor involvement in the axial and anterior compartments. For only 16 of these 20 radiological factors was there an agreement that a clear resection margin was likely to be achieved.
Limitations: Further rounds of Delphi may have yielded greater consensus.
Conclusion: This study has identified a set of criteria considered by experts to be important in evaluating patients' suitability for pelvic exenteration surgery. Evaluation of these criteria is required to determine their clinical utility in predicting a negative resection margin at pelvic exenteration surgery.