Pelvic Floor rehabilitation to improve functional Outcome and quality of life after surgery for Rectal CancEr: a randomized controlled trial. FORCE-trial

The datasets contain all raw data and corresponding sum scores used for analyses in the research described in the Trials-paper by van der Heijden and Colleagues. After sphincter-preserving rectal cancer surgery, many patients suffer from changes in their stool. This may have a negative influence on Quality of Life. The aim of this trial was to gain insight in the effectiveness of pelvic floor rehabilitation after sphincter-preserving rectal cancer surgery (in comparison with usual care without PFR). A total of 128 patients were included and investigated. No significant improvement in fecal incontinence scores was found after pelvic floor rehabilitation. We however found several groups of patients that did benefit from this treatment. They experienced improved continence and an improvement of quality of life. We suggest that this treatment should not be provided to all patients after surgery, but to a selection of patients. A full description of the program as well as all measures is giving in the Methodology section of the Trial article. Data are collected in a prospective manner via questionnaires