[Treatment of acute colectasia not due to cryptogenic colitis. 4 cases]

Four patients with acute colonic pseudo-obstruction were treated by colonoscopic aspiration. This treatment proved sufficient in 1 case due to Salmonella colitis and 1 case of parkinsonian dysautonomia. It has made it possible to diagnose a pyocholecyst masked by the colonic dilatation it had provoked, and facilitated its surgical treatment. A transient result was obtained in a case of otherwise asymptomatic choleperitoneum. Colonoscopy was relatively easy, perfectly well tolerated and always useful. It is therefore recommended for the treatment of acute colonic pseudo-obstruction except in cryptogenic colitis where its effectiveness and safety have not been demonstrated.