"Pouch colon patch graft"--an alternative treatment for congenital short colon.

A patch graft of the pouch colon over the pulled-through ileum in a patient with long-length pouch colon (in whom the entire colon was replaced by a pouch that communicated with the urinary bladder) was tried with good results for the first time. At follow-up the patient was found to have normal bowel patterns and weight gain. Though colon patch grafts have been widely used in patients with total colonic aganglionosis, they have not been tried for the short colon. The authors discuss the clinical setting in which the procedure may prove useful in patients with pouch colon and why these patch grafts may yield comparable or even better results in patients with pouch colon compared with those with total colonic aganglionosis.