A novel, easy, and safe technique to repair a stoma prolapse using a surgical stapling device.

A stoma prolapse is one of the late complications and often occurs when the stoma is made in an emergency situation. This complication is not lethal, but causes irritable stoma, skin trouble, and difficulty in stoma care. We herein report the case of a 48-year-old female with an end colostomy that was created as an emergency operation 4 months before. On admission, her colostomy protruded approximately 20 cm from the skin with marked redness, swelling, and erosion; it was impossible to treat manually. We repaired the prolapse successfully in a simple procedure with a Proximate Linear Cutter 100. Briefly, under mild sedation, the instrument was diagonally inserted into the prolapsed stoma and applied twice on both sides. Then, the base of each divided tissue was stapled and cut with the same device. Finally, the prolapse was completely repaired without major bleeding and severe pain. We have applied this novel technique successfully in 5 further cases, and there have been no complications or recurrences. This technique can be performed without spinal or general anesthesia and seems to be a very useful procedure for patients with prolapse of a stoma. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.