Duhamel versus transanal endorectal pull through (TERPT) for the surgical treatment of Hirschsprung's disease

Duhamel and transanal endorectal pull-throughs for Hirschsprung disease: a Bayesian network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

To comprehensively compare the effects of open Duhamel (OD), laparoscopic-assisted Duhamel (LD), transanal endorectal pull-through (TEPT), and laparoscopic-assisted endorectal pull-through (LEPT) in Hirschsprung disease.

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP were comprehensively searched up to August 4, 2022. The outcomes were operation-related indicators and complication-related indicators. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the quality of evidence. Network plots, forest plots, league tables and rank probabilities were drawn for all outcomes. For measurement data, weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% credibility intervals (CrIs) were reported; for enumeration data, relative risks (RRs) and 95%CrIs were calculated.

RESULTS

Sixty-two studies of 4781 patients were included, with 2039 TEPT patients, 1669 LEPT patients, 951 OD patients and 122 LD patients. Intraoperative blood loss in the OD group was more than that in the LEPT group (pooled WMD = 44.00, 95%CrI: 27.33, 60.94). Patients lost more blood during TEPT versus LEPT (pooled WMD = 13.08, 95%CrI: 1.80, 24.30). In terms of intraoperative blood loss, LEPT was most likely to be the optimal procedure (79.76%). Patients undergoing OD had significantly longer gastrointestinal function recovery time, as compared with those undergoing LEPT (pooled WMD = 30.39, 95%CrI: 16.08, 44.94). The TEPT group had significantly longer gastrointestinal function recovery time than the LEPT group (pooled WMD = 11.49, 95%CrI: 0.96, 22.05). LEPT was most likely to be the best operation regarding gastrointestinal function recovery time (98.28%). Longer hospital stay was observed in patients with OD versus LEPT (pooled WMD = 5.24, 95%CrI: 2.98, 7.47). Hospital stay in the TEPT group was significantly longer than that in the LEPT group (pooled WMD = 1.99, 95%CrI: 0.37, 3.58). LEPT had the highest possibility to be the most effective operation with respect to hospital stay. The significantly reduced incidence of complications was found in the LEPT group versus the LD group (pooled RR = 0.24, 95%CrI: 0.12, 0.48). Compared with LEPT, OD was associated with a significantly increased incidence of complications (pooled RR = 5.10, 95%CrI: 3.48, 7.45). Patients undergoing TEPT had a significantly greater incidence of complications than those undergoing LEPT (pooled RR = 1.98, 95%CrI: 1.63, 2.42). For complications, LEPT is most likely to have the best effect (99.99%). Compared with the LEPT group, the OD group had a significantly increased incidence of anastomotic leakage (pooled RR = 5.35, 95%CrI: 1.45, 27.68). LEPT had the highest likelihood to be the best operation regarding anastomotic leakage (63.57%). The incidence of infection in the OD group was significantly higher than that in the LEPT group (pooled RR = 4.52, 95%CrI: 2.45, 8.84). The TEPT group had a significantly increased incidence of infection than the LEPT group (pooled RR = 1.87, 95%CrI: 1.13, 3.18). LEPT is most likely to be the best operation concerning infection (66.32%). Compared with LEPT, OD was associated with a significantly higher incidence of soiling (pooled RR = 1.91, 95%CrI: 1.16, 3.17). Patients with LEPT had the greatest likelihood not to develop soiling (86.16%). In contrast to LD, LEPT was significantly more effective in reducing the incidence of constipation (pooled RR = 0.39, 95%CrI: 0.15, 0.97). LEPT was most likely not to result in constipation (97.81%). LEPT was associated with a significantly lower incidence of Hirschprung-associated enterocolitis (HAEC) than LD (pooled RR = 0.34, 95%CrI: 0.13, 0.85). The OD group had a significantly higher incidence of HAEC than the LEPT group (pooled RR = 2.29, 95%CrI: 1.31, 4.0). The incidence of HAEC was significantly greater in the TEPT group versus the LEPT group (pooled RR = 1.74, 95%CrI: 1.24, 2.45). LEPT was most likely to be the optimal operation in terms of HAEC (98.76%).

CONCLUSION

LEPT may be a superior operation to OD, LD and TEPT in improving operation condition and complications, which might serve as a reference for Hirschsprung disease treatment.

Comparison of the Duhamel Procedure and Transanal Endorectal Pull-through Procedure in the Treatment of Children with Hirschsprung's Disease: A Systematic Review

Objective: To compare the Duhamel and transanal endorectal pull-through (TERPT) procedures in the treatment of children with Hirschsprung's disease.

METHODS

Studies comparing the Duhamel and TERPT procedures were included until 22 July 2023. R software (version 4.3.0) was used to perform the meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Ten studies with a sum of 496 patients were included. The length of postoperative hospital stay and incidence of postoperative constipation were longer and higher after the Duhamel procedure than the TERPT procedure (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0041, respectively). The incidence of postoperative anastomotic stricture was higher after the TERPT procedure than the Duhamel procedure (p = 0.0015). No significant differences were found in the incidence of postoperative fecal continence, fecal incontinence/soiling, anastomotic leak, or ileus between these two procedures. The operation time seemed to be similar for both procedures, but it became longer for the Duhamel procedure than the TERPT procedure after sensitivity analysis. While the incidence of postoperative enterocolitis seemed to be higher after the TERPT procedure, it became similar for both procedures in the subgroup analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The Duhamel procedure seems to be associated with a longer length of postoperative hospital stay, a higher incidence of postoperative constipation, and a lower incidence of postoperative anastomotic stricture than the TERPT procedure. However, the effect of these two procedures on the operation time and the incidence of postoperative enterocolitis remains unclear.

Minimally invasive surgery in older children with Hirschsprung's disease in a North African Country

Introduction

Hirschsprung's disease (HSD) is a bowel congenital anomaly affecting mainly the enteric nervous system of the rectosigmoid region. Surgical resection of the aganglionic segment and restoration of bowel continuity via coloanal anastomosis is the main stay of treatment. In 1999, Georgeson et al. introduced a new minimally invasive approach as a standard for the pull-through mechanism. This study aims to evaluate the safety and possibility of the use of a laparoscope in older children with HSD with various techniques for HSD surgery.

Methods

This study was performed based on 20 patients diagnosed with HSD. The patients are older children, whose mean age is 3 years. The cases showing enterocolitis or obstruction were excluded from the study. We divided these cases into two groups: Group A, consisting of 10 cases where laparoscopic-aided transanal pull-through was done, and group B, in which the laparoscopic Duhamel procedure was done.

Results

We compared between two groups for the first year follow-up period. In Group A, there were two cases of stenosis that respond to regular dilation: one case of enterocolitis and one case of fecal incontinence. In Group B, we had two cases of constipation and three cases of enterocolitis. There was no anastomotic leak in both groups.

Conclusion

Minimally invasive surgery is safe in management of HSD in older children in one stage, either by using the Duhamel or transanal Swenson procedure.

Stem cell-based therapy for hirschsprung disease, do we have the guts to treat?

Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a congenital anomaly of the colon that results from failure of enteric nervous system formation, leading to a constricted dysfunctional segment of the colon with variable lengths, and necessitating surgical intervention. The underlying pathophysiology includes a defect in neural crest cells migration, proliferation and differentiation, which are partially explained by identified genetic and epigenetic alterations. Despite the high success rate of the curative surgeries, they are associated with significant adverse outcomes such as enterocolitis, fecal soiling, and chronic constipation. In addition, some patients suffer from extensive lethal variants of the disease, all of which justify the need for an alternative cure. During the last 5 years, there has been considerable progress in HSCR stem cell-based therapy research. However, many major issues remain unsolved. This review will provide concise background information on HSCR, outline the future approaches of stem cell-based HSCR therapy, review recent key publications, discuss technical and ethical challenges the field faces prior to clinical translation, and tackle such challenges by proposing solutions and evaluating existing approaches to progress further.

Long-term functional outcomes of patients with Hirschsprung disease following pull-through

BACKGROUND

Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a common congenital disorder presenting with functional obstruction due to aganglionosis of the colon. There are numerous types of pull-through surgery for managing HSCR, such as transabdominal endorectal (Soave), Swenson, Duhamel, transanal endorectal pull-through (TEPT), and laparoscopic (Georgeson) approach. Here, we aimed to describe the long-term outcome of patients with HSCR who underwent transabdominal Soave, Duhamel, and TEPT in our institution.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional analysis for patients who underwent Duhamel, Soave, and TEPT at our institution from January 2012 to December 2015. Long-term functional outcome was determined by bowel function score (BFS). The BFS was obtained by interviewing patients who had completed at least three years of follow-up.

RESULTS

Twenty-five patients were included in this study who underwent transabdominal Soave (n = 8), Duhamel (n = 4), and TEPT (n = 13). There were 24 patients with short aganglionosis type. The median age of HSCR diagnosis was 10 (IQR = 1-39) months, while the median age of pull-through surgery was 17 (IQR = 7-47) months. The median follow-up of BFS level for HSCR patients after pull-through was 72 (IQR, 54-99) months. There were 11 patients with good BFS level and 10 patients with normal BFS level. Additionally, 50% of Duhamel patients had poor BFS level, while 50% of Soave patients had good BFS level, and 54% of TEPT patients had normal BFS level (p = 0.027). As many as 50% of Duhamel patients showed daily soiling and required protective aids, while 38.5% of TEPT had staining less than 1/week and no change of underwear required, and 50% of Soave patients revealed no soiling, respectively (p = 0.030). Furthermore, 75% of Duhamel patients had accidents, while 75% of Soave and 46.2% of TEPT patients had no accidents (p = 0.035).

CONCLUSION

Our study shows that the type of definitive surgery might affect the long-term bowel functional outcome; particularly, the TEPT approach might have some advantages over the transabdominal Soave and Duhamel procedures.

Laparoscopic-assisted duhamel for hirschsprung's children older than 3 years

CONTEXT

Hirschsprung's disease (HD) is a congenital anomaly affecting the enteric nervous system commonly the rectosigmoid region. Treatment is surgical where the aganglionic segment is resected, and bowel continuity is achieved by a colo-anal anastomosis. In 1999, Georgeson et al. proposed a new technique of primary laparoscopic-assisted pull through for HD as a new gold standard.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To evaluate the outcome of the laparoscopic Duhamel procedure for the management of HD in children older than 3 years.

METHODS

This study was performed on 8 patients who were more than 3-year-old, with confirmed diagnoses of HD. Patients who initially presented with enterocolitis or obstruction were excluded from this study. In all cases, laparoscopic-assisted Duhamel was done.

RESULTS

We reported our results for the 1^st year follow-up period and divided our results into early outcome for the first 3 months postoperative during which we had 2 cases complaining of enterocolitis that responded to conservative treatment, we observed 2 cases of perianal excoriation that responded to medical treatment while the late outcome was reported after 3 months postoperative: We had two cases with attacks of enterocolitis at 6 months and 9 months postoperatively that needed conservative treatment in the hospital in the form of parenteral antibiotics, rectal irrigation, intravenous fluids and NP0. There was neither anastomotic leak nor stenosis.

CONCLUSION

Laparoscopic Duhamel for the management of HD in children older than 3 years is safe and useful procedure.

ERNICA guidelines for the management of rectosigmoid Hirschsprung's disease

BACKGROUND

Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is a serious congenital bowel disorder with a prevalence of 1/5000. Currently, there is a lack of systematically developed guidelines to assist clinical decision-making regarding diagnostics and management.

AIMS

This guideline aims to cover the diagnostics and management of rectosigmoid HSCR up to adulthood. It aims to describe the preferred approach of ERNICA, the European Reference Network for rare inherited and congenital digestive disorders.

METHODS

Recommendations within key topics covering the care pathway for rectosigmoid HSCR were developed by an international workgroup of experts from 8 European countries within ERNICA European Reference Network from the disciplines of surgery, medicine, histopathology, microbiology, genetics, and patient organization representatives. Recommendation statements were based on a comprehensive review of the available literature and expert consensus. AGREE II and GRADE approaches were used during development. Evidence levels and levels of agreement are noted.

RESULTS

Thirty-three statements within 9 key areas were generated. Most recommendations were based on expert opinion.

CONCLUSION

In rare or low-prevalence diseases such as HSCR, there remains limited availability of high-quality clinical evidence. Consensus-based guidelines for care are presented.

Duhamel operation vs. transanal endorectal pull-through procedure for Hirschsprung disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To compare treatment outcomes in children with Hirschsprung's disease who underwent treatment using the Duhamel or TERPT surgical procedures.

METHODS

Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases were searched through December 26, 2016. Search strings included Hirschsprung's disease, fecal incontinence, transanal endorectal pull-through, and Duhamel operation. Randomized controlled studies (RCTs) and retrospective studies that compared the treatment of Hirschsprung's disease in with TERPT or Duhamel surgical procedures in neonates, infants, or children were included.

RESULTS

The study included six studies with a total of 280 patients. The meta-analysis indicated that the Duhamel and TERPT interventions were similar with respect to rate of postoperative fecal incontinence (OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.37 to 1.92, P=0.692) and operation time (difference in means=46.68min, 95% CI=-26.96 to 114.31, P=0.226). The Duhamel procedure was associated with longer postoperative hospital stay (Difference in means=3.14days, 95% CI=1.46 to 4.82, P<.001) and a lower rate of enterocolitis (OR=0.21, 95%=0.07 to 0.68, P=0.009) compared with the TERPT procedure.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found that Duhamel and TERPT procedures showed similar benefit in treating Hirschsprung's disease, although differences exist with respect to length of postoperative hospital stay and the incidence of enterocolitis.

THE TYPE OF STUDY

Meta-analysis.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level II.

Hirschsprung Disease - Current Diagnosis and Management

Hirschsprung disease is a common cause of neonatal and infantile large gut obstruction. It is characterised by varying extent of contiguous aganglionosis extending from the anorectum proximally. Since its recognition, the diagnosis and management has continuously evolved with advances in histological evaluation and surgical techniques. This article summarizes the current modalities of investigation and optimal surgical management of Hirschsprung disease and concludes with a reference to the Indian scenario.