Redo Surgeries in Anorectal Malformations: A Single-center Experience

Complications following posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) for ARM are well known. In this article, we present our experience of managing five patients who required major redo surgeries for complications resulting from previous attempts to correct ARM.

We reviewed all patients who underwent major redo surgeries in our hospital for complications from previous repairs for ARM, from June 2013 to June 2019. Data was obtained from hospital records and analysed.

Five patients whose ages ranged from 5 months to 14 years were included in the study. Four were boys and 1 was a girl. All patients had undergone PSARP in other hospitals. The presentations were retained distal bowel causing urinary retention and constipation (n=1), pulled through proximal urethra and bladder neck presenting as passage of urine from neo-anus (n=1), retained common channel (of cloaca) causing a 'H' type configuration (n=1), mispositioned neo-anus (n=1) following a primary PSARP and lastly undivided recto-urethral fistula causing fecaluria (n=1). All of them underwent redo repairs by posterior sagittal approach with documented improvement in their symptoms. Two of them required total bowel management to remain clean.

All the complications reported here have been described in literature nevertheless, this report will add to the body of experience. Posterior sagittal approach (PSA) has proved to be very successful technique in correcting these complications.