Adult ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; Constipation/surgery* ; Humans ; Megacolon/surgery* ; Proctocolectomy, Restorative

Adult megacolon is a rare disease with heterogeneneous etiology. The treatment schemes of megacolon caused by different causes are also different, but surgery is the final and the most effective method. Due to the lack of early understanding of the disease, many patients have not been clearly diagnosed as adult megacolon and have not been properly treated. This article classifies adult megacolon according to the etiology and summarizes its surgical options. For adult Hirschsprung's disease, modified Duhamel, the Jinling procedure, low anterior resection, or pull-through low anterior resection can be used. For patients with idiopathic megacolon, one-stage subtotal colorectal resection can be selected with adequate preoperative preparations. Some patients admitted to the hospital with emergency intestinal obstruction can be treated with conservative treatment or decompression under colonoscopy followed by selective surgery. For patients with aganglionosis, the procedure is subtotal colorectal resection, the same as that of idiopathic megacolon. The procedure is to remove both the dilated proximal intestine and the stenotic distal intestine, then an ileorectal anastomosis or ascending colon rectal anastomosis is performed. For toxic megacolon, colostomy can be done for mild cases, and for severe infections, subtotal colorectal resection is required. Latrogenic megacolon is mostly caused by segmental stenosis or lack of peristalsis, resulting in chronic dilatation of the proximal end and the formation of megacolon. It is necessary to choose a reasonable surgical procedure according to the specific conditions of the patient. The first choice for the treatment of acute colonic pseudo-obstruction syndrome is decompression under colonoscopy. For those with the secondary changes in the intestine, ostomy is still the most effective surgical procedure, but should be performed with caution.
Anastomosis, Surgical ; Colostomy ; Hirschsprung Disease/surgery* ; Humans ; Megacolon/surgery* ; Rectum/surgery*

OBJECTIVETo summarize the experience in the management of slow transit constipation complicated with adult megacolon.

METHODSThe clinical data of 32 above patients admitted between October 2007 and June 2011 were retrospectively studied.

RESULTSThirty-two patients were diagnosed as slow transit constipation according to the Roman III criteria. There were 15 males and 17 females aging from 18 to 56 years old. Sitz marker study showed prolonged colon transit time. Barium enema and defecography suggested bowel stricture locating in the transverse colon (n=3), descending colon (n=4), rectum (n=20), and concurrent transverse colon or descending colon and rectum (n=5). Anal manometry showed that anorectal inhibitory reflex was absent in 23 patients, while the other 9 patients were normal. Procedures performed included segmental colectomy and side-to-side anastomosis (n=1), subtotal colectomy and modified Duhamel anastomosis (n=16), total colectomy and ileal J-pouch Duhamel anastomosis (n=9). There were no postoperative complications. During the follow-up ranging from 3 to 47 months, defacatory function was excellent in 18, good in 9, and moderate in 5 patients.

CONCLUSIONSAdult megacolon should be considered differential diagnosis of slow transit constipation. Detailed history taking and thorough evaluation of testing is the key to obviate misdiagnosis. Extent of resection should include the diseased dilated colon and slow transit colon.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; Constipation ; etiology ; surgery ; Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Transit ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Male ; Megacolon ; complications ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo explore the efficacy of different procedures for refractory constipation complicated with megacolon.

METHODSClinical data of 112 patients of refractory constipation complicated with megacolon undergoing surgery in our institute from June 2007 to January 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Of these 112 patients, the duration of constipation ranged from 4 to 22 years. Seventy-four patients had previous abdominal operations. Surgical procedures: (1)Jinling procedure (subtotal colectomy plus ascending colorectal posterior wall side-to-side anastomosis, n=81), including 24 laparoscopy-assisted procedures, 18 terminal ileostomies. (2)total colectomy plus ileorectal side-to-side anastomosis(n=18). (3)total colectomy plus end ileostomy, and ileorectal posterior wall side-to-side anastomosis 6 months later(n=13). The end ileostomy was reversed 6 months after operation.

RESULTSThe successful rate was 100%, and no surgery-related deaths were found. Postoperative complications included early diarrhea (90 cases, 80.4%), anal pain and incomplete evacuation (22 cases, 19.6%), urinary retention within 24-48 h after catheter removal (16 cases, 14.2%), anastomosis bleeding (9 cases, 8.0%), anastomosis leakage (6 cases, 5.4%), and intestinal obstruction (15 cases, 13.4%). Six patients with intestinal obstruction underwent adhesiolysis, and others were managed by conservative therapy. At the postoperative follow-up at 6 months, the Wexner constipation score was significantly reduced (5.8-8.3 vs. 21.4-28.7, P<0.01), and malnutrition improved as well.

CONCLUSIONSurgical intervention results in good efficacy for refractory constipation complicated with megacolon.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anastomosis, Surgical ; methods ; Colectomy ; methods ; Constipation ; complications ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Ileostomy ; Male ; Megacolon ; complications ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the application value of colonic transit test (CTT) combined with anorectal manometry (ARM), barium enema (BE) and defecography (DFG) in accurately evaluating colonic lesions of slow transit constipation complicated with adult megacolon.

METHODSClinical data of 47 above patients admitted between October 2007 and February 2015 in the People's Hospital of Hunan Province were analyzed retrospectively. All the patients were examined with≥2 times of CTT combined with ARM and BE, and 42 cases received additional DFG at the same time, to evaluate colonic lesions before operation. Operative biopsy pathology was used as the standard. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value(PPV) and negative predictive value(NPV) of positioning in the ascending colon and caecum, transverse colon and descending colon were calculated, and the consistency was represented by Kappa test(Kappa value≥0.75 indicates good consistency, meanwhile higher Kappa value indicates better consistency). The Heikkinen score was used to evaluate defecation function at postoperative 6 months.

RESULTSThe age of 47 patients was from 18 to 56 years old. Compared with intraoperative findings and biopsy pathology, the diagnostic coincidence rate was 89.4% by CTT combined with BE and DFG positioning, which suggested pathology-changed colonic segment locating in the ascending colon and cecum (n=12), transverse colon (n=26) and descending colon (n=9), while intraoperative findings and biopsy pathology suggested pathology-changed colonic segment locating in the ascending colon and cecum (n=11), transverse colon (n=23) and descending colon (n=13). The sensitivity was 88.3%, specificity 93.5%, PPV 92.1%, NPV 94.9% and Kappa value was 0.827(P<0.001). Procedures performed included segmental colectomy (n=8), subtotal colectomy (n=29), total colectomy (n=10). There was no serious complication during and after operation. Defecatory function was excellent in 24 cases (60.0%), good in 10 (25.0%), and moderate in 6 (15.0%) evaluated by Heikkinen score at postoperative 6 months. A total of 40 patients were followed up from 1 to 7 years (median 3 years) and there was no long-term diarrhea and recurrence of constipation or giant colon after operation.

CONCLUSIONPreoperative detection of CTT combined with ARM, BE and DFG in patients with slow transit constipation complicated with adult megacolon can make a more precise assessment of the extent of colonic lesions in advance, which has a good clinical predictive value.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Barium Enema ; Cecum ; pathology ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Colectomy ; methods ; Colon ; pathology ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Constipation ; complications ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Defecography ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Transit ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Manometry ; Megacolon ; complications ; pathology ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Preoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Recovery of Function ; physiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity