RECTAL ECTASIA ASSOCIATED WITH ANORECTAL ANOMALIES

Rectal ectasia may be associated with anorectal anomalies, If not reco gnized at the time of surgical reconstruction it may lead to megarecto sigmoid, resulting in severe constipation and overflow incontinence po stoperatively, The authors treated four patients presenting with this condition, One patient born with a low anorectal anomaly and two with high anorectal anomalies experienced intractable constipation caused b y megarectum despite otherwise adequate primary reconstructive procedu res, A fourth patient had rectal stenosis in association with megarect osigmoid, The ectatic megarectum had to be resected in all the patient s to achieve normal bowel actions. The authors feel that resection or tailoring of the ectatic segment should be an integral part of the pri mary reconstructive procedure. Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Com pany.