Quality of life and defecative function 10 years or longer after posterior sagittal anorectoplasty and laparoscopic-assisted anorectal pull-through for anorectal malformation.

PURPOSE: In our center, patients with anorectal malformation, including males with recto-vesical (RV)/recto-bladder neck (RBN)/recto-prostatic urethral (RU) fistulas, and females with recto-vaginal (RV) fistulas have been treated by posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) before 2000, and by laparoscopic-assisted anorectal pull-through (LAARP) thereafter. We would like to compare the quality of life (QOL) and long-term defecative function between these two groups of patients 10 years after reconstructive surgery. METHODS: Patients who underwent LAARP between 2001 and 2005 were compared with historical controls treated with PSARP between 1996 and 2000. Degrees of continence were graded by the Krickenbeck classification and Kelly's score. QOL was assessed by Hirschsprung's disease/Anorectal Malformation Quality of Life (HAQL) questionnaire. Results were compared using Chi-square test and t test. RESULTS: There were 14 LAARP and 7 PSARP patients. All attained voluntary bowel movements. Moderate to severe soiling (Krickenbeck Grade 2 and 3) was found in 3/14 LAARP (21.4%) and 1/7 PSARP (14.3%) patients, p = 1.00. Constipation requiring use of laxatives was present in 3/14 LAARP (28.6%) and 1/7 PSARP (14.3%) patients, p = 0.62. Mean Kelly's scores were 3.79 ± 0.98 (LAARP) and 4.71 ± 1.25 (PSARP), p = 0.12. No patient required Malone antegrade continence enema (MACE). The QOL scores based on the HAQL questionnaire were comparable between the two groups in all areas except social functioning, in which the LAARP patients attained a significantly lower mean score (26.4 vs 71.7, p = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The 10-year outcome between LAARP and PSARP patients in terms of QOL and defecative function is comparable. Impairment in social functioning in these patients is reflected by the self-reported lower level of functioning.

Manometric findings in relation to functional outcomes in different types of anorectal malformations.

AIMS: To compare anorectal manometry (AM) in patients with different types of anorectal malformations (ARMs) in relation to functional outcomes. METHODS: A single-institution, cross-sectional study. After ethical approval, all patients ≥7years old treated for anterior anus (AA), perineal fistula (PF), vestibular fistula (VF), or rectourethral fistula (RUF) from 1983 onwards were invited to answer the Rintala bowel function score (BFS) questionnaire and to attend anorectal manometry (AM). Patients with mild ARMs (AA females and PF males) had been treated with minimally invasive perineal procedures. Females with VF/PF and males with RUF had undergone internal-sphincter saving sagittal repairs. RESULTS: 55 of 132 respondents (42%; median age 12 (7-29) years; 42% male) underwent AM. Patients with mild ARMs displayed good anorectal function after minimally invasive treatments. The median anal resting and squeeze pressures among patients with mild ARMs (60 cm H2O and 116 cm H2O respectively) were significantly higher than among patients with more severe ARMs (50 cm H2O, and 80cm H2O respectively; p≤0.002). The rectoanal inhibitory reflex was preserved in 100% of mild ARMs and 83% of patients with more severe malformations after IAS-saving sagittal repair. The functional outcome was poor in 4/5 patients with an absent RAIR (BFS≤11 or antegrade continence enema-dependence). Rectal sensation correlated significantly with the BFS. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the appropriateness of our minimally invasive approaches to the management of mild ARMs, and IAS-saving anatomical repairs for patients with more severe malformations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Spinal cord anomalies in patients with anorectal malformations without severe sacral abnormalities or meningomyelocele: outcomes after expectant, conservative management.

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to determine the significance of spinal cord anomalies (SCAs) in patients with anorectal malformations (ARMs) by comparing the outcomes for bowel function, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), and lower-limb neurological abnormalities to these outcomes in patients with similar ARMs and a normal spinal cord. METHODS The spinal cord MRI records of female patients treated for vestibular and perineal fistula (VF/PF) and male patients with rectourethral fistula (RUF) at a single center between 1983 and 2006 were reviewed. Bowel function and LUTS were assessed by questionnaire. Patients with extensive sacral anomalies or meningomyelocele were excluded. RESULTS Of 89 patients (median age 15 years, range 5-29 years), MRI was available in 90% (n = 80; 40 male patients with RUF), and 80% of patients returned the questionnaire (n = 64; 31 male patients with RUF). Spinal cord anomalies were found in 34%, comprising a filum terminale lipoma in 30%, low conus medullaris in 10%, and thoracolumbar syrinx in 6%. Bowel functional outcomes between patients with SCAs (n = 23) and those with a normal spinal cord (n = 41) were not significantly different for soiling (70% vs 63%), fecal accidents (43% vs 34%), and constipation (57% vs 39%; p = not significant for all). The LUTS, including urge (65% vs 54%), urge incontinence (39% vs 24%), stress incontinence (17% vs 22%), and straining (32% vs 29%) were also comparable between groups (p = not significant for all). No patients developed lower-limb neurological abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the long-term functional outcomes for patients with SCAs who had VF/PF and RUF may not differ significantly from patients with the same type of ARMs and a normal spinal cord. The results favor a conservative approach to their management in the absence of abnormal neurological findings in the lower limbs.