Bowel and bladder function after major sacral resection.

Major sacral resection generally is reserved for patients with malignant lesions. Because of the uncommon nature of these diseases, little is known about outcomes of surgical treatment. The current authors describe the retrospective analysis of bowel and bladder function in patients having major sacral resection at their institution during a 10-year period. Fifty-three patients were identified. In patients who had unilateral sacrectomy, in whom the contralateral sacral nerves were preserved, normal bowel and bladder function was retained in 87% and 89%, respectively. In patients who had bilateral S2-S5 nerve roots sacrificed, all had abnormal bowel and bladder function. In patients who had bilateral S3-S5 resection, normal bowel and bladder function was retained in 40% and 25%, respectively. In patients who had bilateral S4-S5 resection, with preservation of the S3 nerves bilaterally, normal bowel and bladder function was retained in 100% and 69%, respectively. In patients who had asymmetric sacral resections, with preservation of at least one S3 nerve root, normal bowel and bladder function was retained in 67% and 60%, respectively. These results show that unilateral resection of sacral roots or preservation of at least one S3 root in bilateral resection preserves bowel and bladder function in the majority of patients.