Total mesorectal excision (TME) is a standard surgical technique for treatment of rectal cancer, first described in 1982 by Professor Bill Heald at the UK's Basingstoke District Hospital.
Instead of the dissection via the abdomen TaTME combines an abdominal and transanal endoscopic approach (endoscopic instruments are inserted into the anus) allowing easier dissection of the most difficult part of the surgery deep down in the pelvis (particularly in male patients or patients with visceral obesity or a narrow pelvis).
The perceived benefits of this technique may include ease of procedure due to better views, decreased operative time and reduced complications.
When practiced with diligent attention to anatomy there is no evidence of increased risk of urinary incontinence or sexual dysfunction.
The symptoms collectively are referred to as low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) and adversely affect quality of life, sometimes so much so that some patients even prefer to have their stoma-reversal itself reversed, and to live with a permanent colonostomy or iliostomy.