Marylise Boutros, MD

Exploring a Better Way to Manage Symptoms of Early Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS)

For many people who survive rectal cancer, the hardest part comes after treatment. A condition known as Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS for short), affects 70-90% of survivors—roughly 500,000 people in the U.S. today. It brings a range of difficult bowel problems, including urgent and frequent bathroom trips, accidents and pain. These symptoms can make daily life feel overwhelming, especially in the first few months after surgery, causing many patients to be stuck at home and afraid to go out.

Doctors usually try to manage early LARS with medications and changes in diet, but these don’t always work well.

Marylise Boutros, a colorectal surgeon in the Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic Florida is testing a new option that could make a big difference for patients: Transanal Irrigation, or TAI. This technique works like a gentle enema. Patients use a small device to flush the entire colon with warm tap water through the rectum, helping clear the bowels and reduce symptoms.

Although TAI has shown promise in small European studies, it hasn’t been tested much in the U.S., especially for early-stage LARS. That’s why Dr. Boutros’s new study, funded by a VeloSano Pilot Grant is aiming to find out if TAI is safe, manageable and helpful for North American patients. If the results are positive, researchers hope to move on to a larger study across multiple centers.

“We believe TAI could be life-changing,” says Dr. Boutros. “It may give patients back the control they need – giving them back their confidence and quality of life.”