2 UNUSUAL CASES OF MEGACOLONS

A 13-year-old boy with features of intestinal obstruction was found at laparotomy to have a sigmoid volvulus. A 7-year-old girl with a simil ar presentation had a tight stricture at the rectosigmoid junction cau sing obstruction. In both cases the proximal colon was grossly loaded with faeces. In the first child, a colostomy after resecting the sigmo id colon was considered the safer option, whereas in the second, an in novative method to decompress the proximal loaded colon using a steril ised colostomy bag was employed, enabling a primary anastomosis to be performed.