Transanal endoscopic surgery is a method of keyhole surgery without creating a scar by using the anus as a natural orifice access.
A camera and 2 small keyhole instruments can be inserted to allow the surgery to be performed. It is used to remove benign growths in the rectum that are deeper than the reach of the surgeon's finger. This is indicated for benign tumours between 7-12cm from the anus.
Sometimes, a transanal keyhole approach is combined with trans-abdominal keyhole approach for lower rectal cancers where the surgeon feels that the trans-abdominal keyhole approach may not be sufficient to clear the cancer. You will need to discuss this with your surgeon as some colorectal surgeons may not have sufficient experience with the transanal keyhole approach.
