Transanal pull-through for hirschsprung's disease

Abstract

The surgical treatment of Hirschsprung's disease has gone through several changes since Ehrenpreis in 1946 suggested that functional obstruction due to aganglionosis of the distal colon was the cause of the proximal colonic dilatation [1]. Swenson and Bill developed the first operation in 1948 that was successful in removing the aganglionic segment and establishing intestinal continuity [2]. Later, Duhamel developed the retrorectal anastomosis for Hirschsprung's disease [3] and Soave developed the endorectal pull-through [4]. Prior to the development of these operations, the only successful surgical procedure was a diverting colostomy. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.