Laparoscopic rectopexy

Abstract

Laparoscopic rectopexy has been performed in four female patients with rectal prolapse. Four or five trocars were used in each case, with the same introduction places as for laparoscopic anterior resection. After dissecting the rectum free, a polypropylene mesh was introduced and fixed to the promontorium with an endoscopic stapler device, and then sutured to the rectum leaving a fourth of the anterior rectal wall free. The average operating time was three hours and the hospital stay six days. No constipation has been observed postoperatively in the patients with preoperative normal bowel habit. The introduction of laparoscopic rectopexy opens the possibility of performing different fixation techniques for various functional problems in the pelvis, offering a significant decrease in morbidity.