2.3. Exclusion criteria

We also specified explicit exclusion criteria to maintain the study's integrity. Patients were not eligible for inclusion if they presented contraindications for laparoscopic surgery or required emergency surgery due to acute intestinal obstruction, perforation, or bleeding. Additionally, we excluded patients diagnosed with other primary malignant cancers in different organs, those who had undergone prophylactic ostomy or ostomy for other reasons, and patients with multiple primary colorectal cancer. We also excluded patients who had accepted preoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy, those with a previous medical history of cancer, and those instances where incomplete information or lost follow‐up data was recorded.

Based on the aforementioned selection criteria, a total of 136 patients were ultimately included in this study, with the NOSES group comprising 44 patients and the CLAR group consisting of 92 patients.