Laparoscopic rectopexy

Abstract

Rectal prolapse in young children is a commonly occurring event that can usually be treated conservatively. Most of these prolapses contain only mucosa. However, sometimes the prolapse is full thickness and does not respond to conservative measures, particularly in children with associated disease (Stafford 1990). In these children surgical management is indicated. Ashcraft et al. (1990) described their results with the posterior repair and suspension. The fixation of the rectum against the presacral fascia can also be approached laparoscopically. Several case-controlled and prospective randomized trials in adults have been performed, demonstrating that with the laparoscopic approach similar results can be obtained with an earlier recovery, less blood loss, less pain medication, favorable pain and mobility scores, but with a longer operating time (Kairaluoma et al. 2003; Solomon et al. 2002). © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008.