INDICATIONS AND RESULTS OF ANAL SPHINCTER MYECTOMY IN CHILDREN

Anal sphinctermyectomy according to Lynn is an established therapy for chronic constipation in children. However, no consensus on indication s exists and, according to the literature, results are contradictory. In order to clarify this problem, 33 children were examined and divide d into two groups: I (n = 12) chronic constipation, and n (n = 21) dys ganglionosis. All children were treated conservatively for at least a 6-month period and showed elevated anal resting tone in manometry. The operative results were assessed by anorectal manometry and a physical examination; subjective opinion was evaluated using a questionnaire. Anorectal manometry showed a marked decrease of anal resting tone of 3 0%, correlating to subjective relief of the symptoms.