The anterior perineal approach for pull-through operations in high imperforate anus.

Recent widespread interest in a new approach to imperforate anus is ample testimony to the difficulty of the classical operations and to the unsatisfactory results. In the early seventies, Mollard began to use an anterior perineal approach to high imperforate anus as an alternative to the sacrococcygeal pull-through. It entails a semicircular retroscrotal incision allowing direct access and visualization of the urethra and puborectalis sling. Since 1976 we have switched to the anterior perineal approach. We now have experience with 30 patients, 27 males and 3 females. Two of the females had complicated cloacal anomalies, and three teenage patients were reoperated for incontinence following previous unsuccessful pull-throughs. Of the 27 primary operations, there were 17 with an uneventful early postoperative course. There were two major and eight moderate or minor complications. There was no mortality. A 3-year follow-up is available in 14 patients. The results are good in 8, fair in 4 and poor in 2. The advantages of this technique are threefold: it allows clear visualization and precise identification of the puborectalis sling; the dissection proceeds parallel to and with constant vision of the urethra, avoiding injury to it; and it obviates the need to change the position of the patient during the procedure. This operation is easier and safer than the sacral approach, it avoids cutting through the puborectalis sling as recently described, and, finally, it respects the criteria established by Stephens.