Laparoscopic-assisted approaches for the definitive surgery for Hirschsprung's disease.

The surgical management of Hirschsprung's disease has progressed from a two- or three-stage procedure to a primary operation over the last 25 years. More recently, definitive surgery for Hirschsprung's disease has been performed using minimally invasive techniques. The Swenson, Duhamel and Soave endorectal pull-through procedures have all been reported using minimally invasive approaches. The endorectal dissection has become the dominant minimal access procedure because of the ease and reliability in performing this technique and the excellent results obtained. Although a transanal endorectal pull-through can be performed without laparoscopy, the laparoscopic-assisted transanal endorectal pull-through is a much more versatile technique and allows early biopsies to determine the extent of aganglionic and dysfunctional bowel before ablation of the rectum and mesocolon. The authors use a laparoscopic-assisted transanal pull-through for aganglionosis of the left and transverse colon. Total colon aganglionosis or aganglionosis of the ascending colon is managed by a laparoscopic-assisted Duhamel procedure which provides a better reservoir in patients with a short or absent colon.