Modified right colon inversion technique as a salvage procedure for colorectal or coloanal anastomosis.

AIM: A tension-free well vascularized colorectal or coloanal anastomosis is not always possible following rectal or sigmoid resection. The study reports on the short-term and long-term outcome of a modified right colon inversion technique as a means of facilitating a low colorectal or coloanal anastomosis.

METHOD: All patients who underwent right colonic inversion, a modified Deloyers' procedure, were identified retrospectively from the prospective database of the Colorectal Department of the Royal Marsden Hospital from October 2008 to December 2013.

RESULTS: There were 14 (nine male) patients of median age 58.7 (45-75) years. The main indication was extensive diverticular disease (50%) and previous colonic surgery (21.4%). A defunctioning stoma was performed in 64.3% which was reversed in all within 3-6 months. Three (21.4%) patients developed postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo 1-2) and none required reoperation. The median duration of follow-up was 11 months. One (7.2%) patient had one bowel movement per day, 10 (71.4%) patients had two bowel movements per day and three (21.4%) patients had three per day.

CONCLUSION: The modified right colonic inversion technique is safe and achieves intestinal continuity with a tension-free well vascularized anastomosis. Good function and low morbidity show that the procedure is a credible alternative to ileorectal or ileoanal anastomosis.