Laparoscopic restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis.

Laparoscopic surgery of the colon has become an established method for the resection of both benign and malignant disease. Complex laparoscopic colon resections were once stigmatized due to their longer operating times and inherent technical difficulty. However, technological innovations and increased surgical experience with laparoscopy have advanced the field of complex laparoscopic surgery, including ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) procedure, with safe feasible results. When these operations are broken down in a stepwise fashion, the complexity of the laparoscopic IPAA procedure becomes simplified, allowing one to effectively reproduce this operation. The systematic laparoscopic steps outlined establish a simple, reproducible approach to a laparoscopic IPAA procedure for ulcerative colitis patients. This approach to laparoscopic IPAA provides one with a viable approach to this complex operation.