BACKGROUND: Transanal resection of benign and selected malignant rectal tumors is a
well accepted surgical technique. The use of a stereoscopic microsurgical technique, as
originally described by Buess et al in 1984, has been shown to improve the results of
standard transanal resection by allowing precise, full thickness resections up to 24 cm from
the anal verge. Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) has failed to gain widespread
popularity for two reasons: The proprietary instrument set is expensive and complex …