[Surgical therapy of malrotations in childhood]

From a total of 174 children treated with malrotations from 1971 to 1988, 148 could be evaluated for long-term results of surgical treatment. The various modalities of treatment were: no correction, dissection of Ladd's bands only, caecoascendopexy, Ladd's procedure and the so-called total correction. Comparing the late results in children with and without correction it was found that those without correction, i.e. without pexy, had to be reoperated in 17% of the cases, whereas the totally corrected children required reoperation in 8% of the cases only. Corrected cases needed to be admitted but not operated later because of pain, constipation, vomiting or poor weight gain in 23%, the uncorrected ones in 6%. Likewise, corrected malrotations resulted in complaints in 27% in contrast to the noncorrected ones in 9%. The conclusion is that total correction results in fewer reoperations but in more symptoms not requiring surgery.