Selective transperitoneal aspiration of a distended bowel with a small-caliber needle during laparoscopic Nissen...

Anecdotal reports have demonstrated the feasibility of needle aspiration to deflate a distended bowel, but we do not know of any prospective study that has evaluated this technique. We designed a controlled study to evaluate the use of the selective transperitoneal needle aspiration of a bowel loop (STAB) in infants.

Candidates were patients of less than 6 months of age, scheduled for laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication, in whom severe colonic distension was observed. We randomized the patients to the study drug or placebo in a 1:1 mode. The treatment group received STAB, whereas the control group was subject to conventional maneuvers. We performed 403 Nissen procedures laparoscopically: 102 were in infants ≤ 6 months old, but only 44 presented severe transverse colonic distension.

STAB facilitated the surgical procedure and drastically reduced surgical time. Thus, we calculated our sample size with use of the following inputs: 90% power, a critical P value of .05, and 50% reduction in surgical time. This resulted in a necessary sample size of 21 subjects per group, for a total required sample size of 42 subjects. STAB procedures were done in 23 patients, and conventional measures were used in 21. STAB was attempted a total of 45 times. Mean operative time was shorter in the STAB group.

We propose the use of STAB as alternative therapy to decompress a dilated large-bowel loop during laparoscopic surgery. This maneuver is simple and efficient and has no clinical complications. Future studies are required to evaluate its role in the subset of other patients or procedures.