Total mesorectal excision with pelvic autonomic nerve preservation showed relative safety in preserving sexual and voiding function. The International Prostate Symptom Score and International Index of Erectile Function questionnaires were useful in assessing urinary and sexual function.

MRI showed a good, comparable accuracy rate for determining depth of tumor invasion, compared with transrectal ultrasonography, which still has a low accuracy rate for detecting metastatic lymph node. MRI with endorectal coil may increase the accuracy rate of T1 and T2 lesions. In addition, clear sagittal and coronal sectional pelvic images can give a lot of information about adjacent organ invasion or any invasion of levator ani muscle. MRI can be useful for choosing an appropriate extent of lymph node dissection and type of surgery.

Patients with central recurrences have a high probability of curative resection. Disease-free survival less than 1 year and curative resection of local recurrence were independent prognostic factors affecting oncologic outcomes in patients with locally recurrent rectal cancer.

The objectives were to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasonography, computed tomography, and physical examination for diagnosing acute appendicitis with analyzing their accuracies and negative appendectomy rates in a clinical rather than research setting. A total of 2763 subjects were enrolled. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value and negative appendectomy rate for ultrasonography, computed tomography, and physical examination were calculated. Confirmed positive acute appendicitis was defined based on pathologic findings, and confirmed negative acute appendicitis was defined by pathologic findings as well as on clinical follow-up. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for ultrasonography were 99.1, 91.7, 96.5, and 97.7 per cent, respectively; for computed tomography, 96.4, 95.4, 95.6, and 96.3 per cent, respectively; and for physical examination, 99.0, 76.1, 88.1, and 97.6 per cent, respectively. The negative appendectomy rate was 5.8 per cent (5.2% in the ultrasonography group, 4.3% in the computed tomography group, and 12.2% in the physical examination group). Ultrasonography/computed tomography should be performed routinely for diagnosis of acute appendicitis. However, in view of its advantages, ultrasonography should be performed first. Also, if the result of a physical examination is negative, imaging studies after physical examination can be unnecessary.