Totally stapled restorative proctocolectomy

Totally stapled restorative proctocolectomy (TSRP) has simplified ileoanal pouch surgery but few reports exist concerning experience with the technique. A retrospective study of operative and functional data in a consecutive series of patients undergoing TSRP was undertaken.

TSRP with J pouch formation was attempted in 103 patients between 1988 and 1995 (for ulcerative colitis (87 patients), familial adenomatous polyposis coli (nine), slow transit constipation (six) and hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (one). Three technical failures resulted in 100 patients available for assessment. Case notes were reviewed together with functional assessment by clinical interview and/or postal questionnaire.

Median operating time was 200 min, intraoperative blood loss 360 ml and hospital stay 12 days. There were no operative deaths. All but five patients (95 per cent) had loop ileostomy formation with subsequent reversal. There were 29 complications, six of which required further surgical intervention. Six pouches were excised and two patients had a temporary defunctioning ileostomy. Five patients were rediagnosed as having Crohn's disease, of whom four underwent subsequent pouch excision. Pouchitis (in the absence of Crohn's disease) occurred in eight patients (8 per cent). In 60 patients with at least 12 months of established function, median day and night stool frequencies were 5 and 1 respectively. Functional evaluation in 49 patients (82 per cent) revealed regular use of antidiarrhoeal medication in 21, urgency in 17, and total continence by day and night in 37 and 35 respectively. Fifty-three patients (88 per cent) were satisfied with the overall long-term outcome.

TSRP is safe, has simplified a technically difficult operation and gives good long-term functional results.