Systematic review of abdominal surgery for chronic idiopathic constipation

Constipation is a common problem which increases in prevalence with age. Chronic constipation is complex and difficult to treat. Some patients will not respond to pharmacological therapy and therefore surgery may be considered. A systematic review of the literature was performed to determine the outcome of surgery.

Published papers were identified by a search of The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE. They were reviewed and the data were extracted.

Forty-eight papers were identified, including 1443 patients. Eleven different procedures were described. There was inconsistency in reporting. In 65% of patients the mean frequency of defaecation increased from 1.1 to 19.7 evacuations per week. Where laxative usage was reported (971 patients), it was found that 88% of patients did not need them postoperatively. Early complications included ileus (0-16%), infection (0-13%) and anastomotic leakage (0-22%). Patient satisfaction and quality of life scores were high. Only 30% of studies included data on preoperative psychological assessment.

Surgery improves constipation and is associated with a higher degree of patient satisfaction, but the quality of studies was very variable. Future controlled trials should examine the ideal therapeutic approach for different patient groups.