Closed loop bowel obstruction secondary to left paraduodenal hernia (of Landzert).

A 34-year-old man presented with acute severe left-sided abdominal and flank pain with associated postprandial nausea and vomiting. CT imaging revealed findings suspicious for a closed loop small bowel obstruction. Intraoperative findings were that of a left paraduodenal hernia (of Landzert) secondary to a mesenteric defect immediately posterior to the ascending branch of the left colic artery. The defect was closed via minilaparotomy. Unfortunately, his postoperative course was complicated by small bowel obstruction which required further laparotomy and adhesiolysis. The patient eventually made a good recovery. Here, we present a rare case of intestinal obstruction and discuss the aetiologies and management of this unusual phenomenon.

Techniques for colorectal anastomosis.

Colorectal anastomotic leak remains one of the most feared post-operative complications, particularly after anterior resection of the rectum with, the shift from abdomino-peritoneal resections to total mesorectal excision and primary anastomosis. The literature fails to demonstrate superiority of stapled over hand-sewn techniques in colorectal anastomosis, regardless of the level of anastomosis, although a high stricture rate was noted in the former technique. Thus, improvements in safety aspects of anastomosis and alternatives to hand-sewn and stapled techniques are being sought. Here, we review alternative anastomotic techniques used to fashion bowel anastomosis. Compression anastomosis using compression anastomotic clips, endoluminal compression anastomotic rings, AKA-2, biofragmental anastomotic rings, or Magnamosis all involve the concept of creating a sutureless end-to-end anastomosis by compressing two bowel ends together, leading to a simultaneous necrosis and healing process that joins the two lumens. Staple line reinforcement is a new approach that reduce the drawbacks of staplers used in colorectal practice, i.e. leakage, bleeding, misfiring, and inadequate tissue approximation. Various non-absorbable, semi or fully absorbable materials are now available. Two other techniques can provide alternative anastomotic support to the suture line: a colorectal drain and a polyester stent, which can be utilized in ultra-low rectal excision and can negate the formation of a defunctioning stoma. Doxycycline coated sutures have been used to overcome the post-operative weakness in anastomosis secondary to rapid matrix degradation mediated by matrix metalloproteinase. Another novel technique, the electric welding system, showed promising results in construction of a safe, neat, smooth sutureless bowel anastomosis. Various anastomotic techniques have been shown to be comparable to the standard techniques of suturing and stapling. However, most of these alternatives need to be accepted and optimized for future use.