Comparative Study of Quality of Life After Surgery in Sigmoid and Rectal Cancers: A Single-Center Prospective Study

Sigmoid and rectal cancers are common malignancies that necessitate surgical resection as the primary treatment modality. However, surgery can significantly impact the quality of life (QoL) of patients, particularly in terms of bowel function, sexual function, and psychological well-being. This study aimed to compare the QoL of patients who underwent surgery for sigmoid and rectal cancers.

A prospective study was conducted on 90 patients who underwent elective surgery for sigmoid or rectal cancer between January 2019 and December 2021 at the center. The QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR29 questionnaires were utilized to assess the QoL of patients post-surgery. The QoL scores between the two groups were compared using t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA.

The average age of the patients was years, and 57.8% were females. The sigmoid group comprised 44 patients (48.8%) who underwent sigmoid colectomy, and the rectal group consisted of 46 patients (51.2%) who underwent low anterior resection. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics and QLQ-C30 scores between the two groups and also in other categories (sex, age groups, and cancer stages) (p > 0.05). However, a significant difference was observed between the QLQ-CR29 scores of the two surgical groups (p < 0.05). QLQ-CR29 was not significantly different between sex and age groups and cancer stages (p > 0.05).

The study demonstrated that surgery for sigmoid and rectal cancers deteriorated the QoL of patients, irrespective of the type of surgery or the location of the tumor. There was no significant difference in the QoL between the sigmoid and rectal groups measured by QLQ-C30. However, QLQ-CR29 showed significantly better QoL for the rectal group.