Prograde dilatation with Tucker bougies: a technique for managing postoperative rectal strictures

Postoperative rectal stricture is an occasional complication of abdominoperineal pull-through and low anterior resection of the rectum. Although the causes and pathogenesis of this phenomenon are poorly understood, various techniques for stricture dilatation have been described. In this article, we present two cases of severe postoperative rectal strictures that were not amenable to conventional methods of dilatation but were successfully managed by a technique of dilatation using Tucker bougies without general anesthesia.