Table 2.

Overview of functional outcomes of the included studies

Urinary function		IPSS
Study	Technique	Post-op (timepoint not specified)	1 m	3 m	6 m	12 m	24 m
Annibale et al.	L-TME/R-TME		NS			NS
Feng et al.	L-TME/R-TME		RS	RS	RS
Galata et al.	L-TME/R-TME					∆ NS
Grass et al.	R-TME/TaTME					∆ ♂ TaS, ∆ ♀ NS
Jayne et al.*	L-TME/R-TME				NS*
Kim et al. (ASO)	L-TME/R-TME		NS	RS	NS	NS
Kim et al. (CRD)	L-TME/R-TME			NS	RS	NS
Liu et al.	L-TME/Microhand/da Vinci			RS3, RS4
Macháčková et al.	L-TME/R-TME				NS	NS	NS
Miura et al.	L-TME/R-TME/TaTME	NS1, NS2
Park et al.	L-TME/R-TME			NS	NS	NS
Tang et al.	L-TME/R-TME			NS	RS	RS

Sexual function		IIEF					FSFI
Study	Technique	1 m	3 m	6 m	12 m	24 m	3 m	6 m	12 m	24 m
Feng et al.	L-TME/R-TME		RS	RS	RS		RS	RS	RS
Galata et al.	L-TME/R-TME				NS				∆ NS
Grass et al.	R-TME/TaTME								∆ NS
Jayne et al.*	L-TME/R-TME			NS*				NS*
Kim et al. (ASO)	L-TME/R-TME	NS	NS	NS	NS
Kim et al. (CRD)	L-TME/R-TME		NS	NS	NS
Liu et al.	L-TME/Microhand/da Vinci			RS1, RS2				NS1, NS2
Macháčková et al.	L-TME/R-TME			NS	NS	NS		NS	NS	NS
Park et al.	L-TME/R-TME		NS	RS	NS
Tang et al.	L-TME/R-TME		NS	RS	NS

Fecal function		LARS		Wexner
Study	Technique	6 m postoperatively or after stoma closure	12 m	6 m postoperatively or after stoma closure	12 m
Grass et al.	R-TME/TaTME		∆ RS		∆ NS
Heijden et al.	L-TME/TaTME		LS
Miura et al.	L-TME/R-TME/TaTME	NS1, NS2		NS1, NS2
Rubinkiewicz et al.*	L-TME/TaTME	NS*		NS*

IPSS International Prostate Symptom Score; L-TME laparoscopic total mesorectal excision; m months; NS non-significant; Post-op postoperative; R-TME robotic total mesorectal excision; RS robot significantly better; TaTME transanal total mesorectal excision; TaS transanal significantly better; FSFI female sexual function index; IIEF International Index of Erectile Function; LS laparoscopic significantly better; LARS low anterior resection syndrome

*Calculated L-TME minus R-TME; ♂, male; ♀, female; ¹L-TME vs. R-TME; ²R-TME vs. TaTME; ³Microhand vs. L-TME; ⁴da Vinci vs. L-TME; ∆, delta. The reported significance of the questionnaire outcomes was reported as described by the reviewed studies and according to comparison to preoperative baseline questionnaire outcomes, unless otherwise specified

*Calculated L-TME minus R-TME; ¹Microhand vs. L-TME; ²da Vinci vs. L-TME; ∆, delta

*Provided median LARS/Wexner scores; ∆, delta; ¹L-TME vs. R-TME; ²R-TME vs. TaTME