The competence and bacteriologic effect of the telescoped intestinal valve after small bowel resection.

In 20 dogs the distal one-third of the small intestine and the proximal 10 cm of the ascending colon were resected. Bowel continuity was established by the telescoping technique to create an intestinal valve in ten dogs (group A) and by conventional end-to-end anastomosis in ten dogs (group B). Diarrhea and weight loss were similar in both groups. The ileal bacterial growth was significantly higher than the jejunum in group A (P less than 0.001) but not in group B. The jejunal bacterial growth in group B was significantly higher than that in group A (P less than 0.01). Intestinal transit times were 212 +/- 16.0, 219 +/- 152.4, and 163 +/- 85.8 minutes for normal dogs, groups A and B respectively. The competence of the normal ileocecal valve, the telescoped valve, and conventional anastomosis were 56 +/- 1.7, 49.9 +/- 17.4 and 13.2 +/- 7.8 cm of barium, respectively. Artificial intestinal valve formed by the telescoping technique is safe, simple, and effective in reducing bacterial overgrowth in the jejunum and appears to prolong intestinal transit time.