[Gastrointestinal extramucous running suture anastomosis]

There is an ongoing discussion in surgery about what is the best or "correct" technique for gastrointestinal anastomosis. An ideal anastomosis should fulfill the following criteria: it must be well vascularised, safe ("waterproof"), easily feasible, tension-free, spillage should be avoided and it should be inexpensive. We give an illustrated report of the surgical technique of the continuous single-layer anastomosis in the gastrointestinal tract. On the basis of a pilot study, a randomised comparative study, a Swiss multicenter trial and, finally, a prospective 5-year-follow-up quality control study we demonstrate that this "Schweizer (Swiss)"-technique fulfills the criteria of an "ideal" anastomosis and can be used in almost all intestinal localisations.