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Treatment of rectal prolapse in the elderly by perineal rectosigmoidectomy

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Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Abstract

The results and complications of perineal rectosigmoidectomy for complete rectal prolapse in 114 patients have been reviewed. Most patients were elderly and high risk by virtue of other concurrent medical conditions. Fourteen patients (12 percent) developed significant postoperative complications. Hospital stay was short (median, four days). Ten patients were lost to follow-up. The remaining 104 patients were followed for 3 to 90 months. Eleven patients (10 percent) developed recurrent fullthickness rectal prolapse; six of them underwent repeat perineal rectosigmoidectomy. Sixty-seven patients had fecal incontinence prior to surgery. Eleven patients underwent concomitant levatoroplasty; 10 of them either improved or regained full continence of feces postoperatively. Twenty-six of the 56 patients who underwent perineal rectosigmoidectomy alone improved or regained full continence. Rectal prolapse can be successfully treated by perineal rectosigmoidectomy in elderly, highrisk patients with minimal morbidity. Levatoroplasty dramatically improves fecal incontinence occurring in association with rectal prolapse.

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Author notes

  1. J. Graham Williams M.Ch. (Lecturer in Surgery)

    Present address: University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, B15 2TH, Birmingham, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Colon & Rectal Surgery, University of Minnesota, Mayo Building, 420 Delaware Street S.E., Box 450, 55455, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    J. Graham Williams M.Ch. (Lecturer in Surgery),  David A. Rothenberger M.D., Robert D. Madoff M.D. & Stanley M. Goldberg M.D.

Authors
  1. J. Graham Williams M.Ch.
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  2. David A. Rothenberger M.D.
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  3. Robert D. Madoff M.D.
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  4. Stanley M. Goldberg M.D.
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Additional information

Read at the meeting of The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Boston, Massachusetts, May 12 to 17, 1991.

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Williams, J.G., Rothenberger, D.A., Madoff, R.D. et al. Treatment of rectal prolapse in the elderly by perineal rectosigmoidectomy. Dis Colon Rectum 35, 830–834 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02047867

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02047867

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