Transanal Drainage of Coloanal Anastomotic Leaks

The conventional operative intervention for leaks following coloanal anastomoses has been proximal fecal diversion with or without take-down of anastomosis. A few of these cases are also amenable to percutaneous drainage. Ostomies created in this situation are often permanent, specifically in cases where coloanal anastomoses are taken down at the time of reoperation. We present two patients who developed perianastomotic pelvic abscesses that were treated with transanal large bore catheter drainage resulting in successful salvage of coloanal anastomoses without the need for a laparotomy or ostomy creation. We propose this to be an effective therapeutic approach to leaks involving low coloanal anastomoses in the absence of generalized peritonitis.