Abstract

Anastomotic leak is a frequent and dreaded complication of colorectal surgery, with incidences ranging from 2-14% recorded. However, early detection may reduce short-term morbidity and death. Advances in surgery have led to the contemporary surgeon seeing colorectal cancer not as an insurmountable hurdle, loaded with morbidity and approaching mortality, but as a task to be tackled, supported by an armament provided by modern oncological surgery and chemo-radiation. As a result, a low-cost, readily accessible marker that can be discovered early in the subclinical stage before overt sepsis emerges would be highly sought.

Description