[How safe is intracorporeal anastomosis?].

A recent German multi-centre study comprising 3070 laparoscopic colorectal resections indicates that complete intracorporeal anastomoses are done in only 1.8%. In agreement with the literature, technically demanding hand-sutured anastomoses are no common practice either. Intracorporeal anastomosis is usually done using endoscopic linear stapling devices or the conventional circular stapler by performing end-to-end, end-to-side, and side-to-side anastomoses. These techniques are more frequently used in the upper than in the lower gastrointestinal tract. The date published so far, however, indicate that the complete intracorporeal anastomosis is a save technique in the hands of laparoscopically experienced surgical teams. This technique has very low rates of postoperative stenoses (0-10%) and, furthermore, very low rates of postoperative anastomotic leakages (0-8%).