Results following treatment of anorectal malformations

Abstract

The outcomes of patients with anorectal malformations (ARM) have greatly improved during the last decades as a result of modern surgical techniques and improved neonatal care facilities. Early survival is today a rule except in some rare cases with cardiac, urogenital, or chromosomal anomalies that are not compatible with life. The overall long-term functional outcome expectancy in terms of fecal and urinary continence is today relatively optimistic. The majority of patients reaching adolescence and adulthood are able to maintain themselves socially continent. © 2006 Springer-Verlag.