A May 2022 study published in the Diseases of the Colon and Rectum zooms in on the importance of anatomy. Dr. Argeny and colleagues of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, provide insight into the anatomical position of the mesh in relation to the sacrum during a laparoscopic procedure. The authors studied 18 fresh cadavers and performed laparoscopic sacral mesh fixation as surgeons would do during laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy. This study emphasizes the importance of cadaver studies before implementing new surgical techniques in clinical practice.

Albert Wolthuis, MD, PhD, from the Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Leuven, Belgium, commented on the study in an accompanying editorial titled "Tacking the Mesh on the Sacral Promontory in Laparoscopic Ventral Mesh Rectopexy: It's Anatomy That Matters!"

Surgical anatomy is the basis for our day-to-day practice. When nonresectional surgery is performed and 'anatomical deformities' are corrected, proper knowledge of anatomical structures is necessary. A thorough anatomical knowledge by really zooming in on the correct anatomical structures is what matters most during surgical dissection. It is with such studies that we can discuss details of laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy so that we can teach students, surgical trainees, and even our colleagues."

Dr. Albert Wolthuis, MD, PhD, Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Leuven, Belgium