To our knowledge no cases of transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) combined with retroperitoneal laparoscopy for resection of lymph node recurrence have been described in the literature.

We report a case of resection of mesorectal and para-aortic lymph node recurrence of primary ovarian cancer performed with retroperitoneal laparoscopy and TAMIS.

A 66-year-old female, diagnosed in December 2014 with stage IIa ovarian adenocarcinoma had cytoreductive surgery at that time, achieving a R0 resection (complete hysterectomy with bilateral ovariectomy, pelvic peritonectomy with standard lymphadenectomy and supramesocolic omentectomy). Surgery was followed by adjuvant treatment. On November 2017, a computed tomography scan revealed lymph node recurrence in the left para-aortic nodes (2.5 cm diameter on CT) and mesorectal space (2.8 cm diameter) at 10 cm from the anal verge.

After a multidisciplinary session, both nodes were resected (see attached video). The para-aortic node was resected using retroperitoneal laparoscopy and the mesorectal node resected using a TAMIS approach [1,2,3]. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged 5 days after surgery. Histopathological examination of the two nodes revealed undifferentiated serosal adenocarcinoma of the ovary. No recurrence was found at 1-year follow-up.

Combination of different minimally invasive approaches is a safe alternative to conventional surgery for resection of lymph node recurrence that surgeons should be aware of.