Die laparoskopische Versorgung iatrogener Kolonperforation

Background

Iatrogenic colon perforation is a rare but life-threatening complication of colonoscopy. Although conservative therapy is possible in selected cases, if it fails it often leads to the necessity of more extensive operations with increased morbidity in contrast to immediate and definitive surgery. Laparoscopic colorectal surgery offers the possibility of minimizing the invasiveness and associated complications.

Patients and methods

The data of all patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for iatrogenic colon perforation within a 10-year time period (1997–2009) were recorded prospectively and analyzed retrospectively with regard to age, sex, localization of the perforation, diagnoses and clinical symptoms, type of procedure, intra- and postoperative complications as well as postoperative course.

Results

In the observation period 24 patients with iatrogenic colon perforation were treated laparoscopically. In 17 cases the perforation was associated with therapeutic colonoscopy and in 7 cases with diagnostic colonoscopy. In 19 patients the affected part of the colon was resected and in 5 patients a simple closure by suture was performed. Four cases required conversion. The median operating time was 165 min (range: 90–420 min) and the median hospital stay 11 days (range: 7–25 days). There were no surgical complications in the postoperative course. One patient (91 years) developed cardiac decompensation leading to death.

Conclusion

Laparoscopic treatment of iatrogenic colon perforations offers a minimally invasive and definitive solution to this life-threatening complication. In the hands of an experienced surgeon a laparoscopic approach is a safe and efficient enrichment to the therapeutic options in iatrogenic colon perforation.