Surgical management of irradiation-induced small bowel damage

Seventy-seven patients, presenting with radiation small bowel injuries at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute at Houston between 1962 and 1978, were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two categories: bowel bypass without resection, and resection of irradiated bowel. Each group was then analyzed for its short- and long-term complications. Ileocolectomy with end-to-end anastomosis was the surgical procedure of choice in those people undergoing resection. There was no difference in short-term complications noted between the two groups. The long-term complications of fistula formation and continued small bowel necrosis could be prevented by resection, as a primary procedure. The surgical details of ileocolectomy with end-to-end anastomosis are presented, along with an analysis of the complications encountered in both groups.