PELVIC FLOOR RECONSTRUCTION AFTER MAJOR CANCER-SURGERY

BACKGROUND: Many surgical techniques to keep the small intestine out o f the pelvis after cancer surgery have been developed. METHODS: We use d part of the ileum and its mesentery sutured around the linea termina lis in ten patients who underwent surgery for rectal or gynecologic ca rcinomas. RESULTS: All imaging studies of our patients on the tenth po stoperative day confirmed the position of the bowel above the pelvis. Four of ten patients had radiation treatment postoperatively without a ny problems. CONCLUSION: Use of the ileum to reconstruct the pelvic fl oor seems to be a simple and efficacious technique to keep the pelvic area free. We believe this warrants further investigation in a larger number of patients.