Seven-Year experience with the use of the laparo-assisted procedure for the treatment of intestinal atresias

Introduction Jejunal-ileal atresias are the most common cause of congenital intestinal occlusion in newborns and the duodenal atresia is the most common cause of high bowel obstruction in neonatal period. The traditional treatment is performed by a transverse sovraumbilical laparotomy. Nowadays three minimally invasive approaches are possible: circumbilical incision, totally laparoscopic and video-assisted. We present our experience with the video-assisted approach for the correction of intestinal atresias. Materials and Methods Seventeen patients with bowel atresia were treated by video-assisted procedure at our institution. Fifteen of them had a prenatal suspicion, confirmed at birth. Surgical procedures consisted of identification and exteriorization of the affected tract followed by traditional bowel atresia correction outside the abdomen. Results In all cases the operation was successfully completed. There weren’t any intraoperative complications nor conversions. One patient required a second intervention for an incomplete distal web that hadn’t been identified in the first place and another one experienced intestinal occlusion 27 days after surgery for adhesions. Conclusion The video assisted technique for the correction of small bowel atresia adds the advantages of the classic laparotomic procedure to the laparoscopic ones.