Laparoscopic sphincter-saving surgery for low rectal cancer through marker meeting approach.

Laparoscopic low anterior resection (LAR) with sphincter preservation for ultra-low rectal cancer is always a challenging operation in colorectal surgery. To achieve negative margins, reducing the difficulty and risks of the procedure are major goals for us. The marker meeting approach we reported can help to accomplish this goal. The key technique for the marker meeting approach is to ensure a clear distal margin in a low resection of the rectum by transanal dissection. This procedure allows access to the space around the distal rectum and mesorectum and to pack the gauzes in the distal part of the space as a landmark. Routine laparoscopic LAR was performed to dissect the space until reaching the gauzes packed above and achieve complete mobilization of the rectum and mesorectum. This surgical procedure is simpler and reduces the difficulty of the operation. Therefore, it is expected to reduce the risk of surgery-related complications and positive margins and is suitable to be widely applied and extended in clinical practice. The short-term and long-term clinical outcomes of the marker meeting approach need more research in large samples.

Colorectal Surgery Training in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and China.

Until 1st July 1997, Hong Kong was under the governance of the British Government; therefore, the British system of education was followed. After internship, 7 years of general surgical training is required to obtain registration and fellowship qualifications of the College of Surgeon of Hong Kong and Edinburg. After having become a specialist in general surgery, the surgeon could choose to specialize in colorectal surgery with an additional 3 to 5 years of specialist training in an accredited centre and 6 months of overseas training with subsidies. On the contrary, China has more than 600 medical schools, and students can enroll in different programs to become a medical practitioner. Despite a great discrepancy exists in the quality of teaching and supervision but there are comprehensive regulations governing the accreditation of hospitals, credentialing of operations, medical records, etc. to ensure medical and patient safety. Vast amounts of resources are being invested to strengthen the quality and to advance the technology used in patient care, not only by supporting basic and clinical research but also by providing extra resources to "import" experts and help develop services with clinical excellence. To accomplish this, the aim of the "three fames project" with a 5-year funding of 3 million United States dollar is to invite overseas experts to help build medical teams in specific areas. Due to its huge population (more than 1.3 billion people), China is a country full of potential for development in clinical research, collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the provision of premier medical services.