Laparoscopically assisted ileocolectomy for Crohn's disease through a pfannenstiel incision.

Recently, laparoscopically assisted bowel resections have been shown to be less morbid than the traditional laparotomy, especially for benign conditions such as Crohn's disease. While reports describing laparoscopically assisted bowel resections use a small midline or right transverse incision, we describe a novel laparoscopically assisted approach employing a Pfannenstiel incision for Crohn's patients. We attempted the Pfannenstiel incision since it is well known to be associated with less postoperative pain, decreased ileus and hospital stay, and low rates of wound infection and incisional hernia, compared with midline or right transverse incisions. Furthermore, we found that the Pfannenstiel incision offers additional advantages that may be uniquely suited for Crohn's patients. First, the cosmetic position of the incision is particularly attractive to the young population affected by Crohn's. Second, the Pfannenstiel incision preserves fresh tissue in the midline, right, and left lower quadrants in the event that reoperation or stoma placement are required in the future owing to recurrent disease. We describe our technique in 10 consecutive patients undergoing ileocolectomy for Crohn's disease. Our patients experienced minimal morbidity and were pleased with the cosmetic results of their incisions.