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Background: Virtual reality (VR) enhanced radiology could help improve communication with colorectal cancer patients and therefore increase understanding in the perioperative setting. The objective of this pilot trial is to assess the feasibility of conducting a randomized control trial in terms of recruitment, use and acceptability of the VR technology and validity of data collection methods. Methods: A prospective, single‐centre randomized control trial was conducted at St John of God Midland Hospital in Western Australia from November to December 2021. After standard informed consent with their surgeon, elective patients planned for resection of colorectal cancer were randomized to either 'standard consent' (shown computed tomography (CT) images only) or 'VR consent' (shown CT images and immersive VR models). Results: Nine patients were recruited (four control; five intervention). There was a trend towards improved patient reported understanding without reaching statistical significance. Most patients preferred the use of VR as compared to CT as an educational tool during the consent process (P = 0.03). There were no adverse effects. Conclusion: VR was well tolerated and patients enjoyed using the technology. Its use in an outpatient clinic setting for elective colorectal cancer surgery is feasible. Improvement in patient understanding using VR compared to standard consent processes in colorectal surgery should be tested in a statistically powered, high quality study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The closure of ileostomy is associated with significant morbidity, the most common being surgical site infection (SSI), ranging up to 41%. This study compared the stoma site SSI rates after either the conventional‐linear closure (CLC) or purse‐string closure (PSC). Methods: The study conducted a single‐centre retrospective cohort study of elective loop‐ileostomy closures from June 2015 to January 2021. Patient demographics, surgical techniques and outcomes, including SSI rates, were analysed using SPSS ver.27. Results: Hundred and six patients underwent loop‐ileostomy closure, 91.5% (n = 97) had CLC of which 67% (n = 65) were stapled. Male patients comprise 67.9%, with a median age of 62. The median BMI was 27. The median surgical time, LOS and interval time to closure were 66 min, 4.5 days and 5.5 months, respectively. The SSI rate was 19.6% (n = 19) for CLC and 11.1% (n = 1) for PSC. The SSI rate was significantly reduced to 3.7% (P < 0.001) in CLC when the site was washed with betadine. Multivariate logistic regression controlled for statistically insignificant confounders showed that stoma site betadine wash was significantly and independently associated with reduced SSI risk (P = 0.026). Other significant factors which reduced SSI risk were prophylactic antibiotic therapy (P = 0.004), operative time < 60 min (P = 0.021), and having the closure done >3 months post the formation surgery (P = 0.040). Conclusions: This study found that stoma SSI risk was independently and significantly reduced when CLC stapled site was washed with betadine. This low‐cost intervention that significantly reduced skin closure site SSI rates is readily available and can easily be adopted into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]