New Surgical Method Treats Twisted Guts

Oct, 2021 - By SMI

A study introduced an effective surgical procedure to treat patients with congenital intestinal malrotation, a disease that causes twisting of the intestines.

The experts at Cleveland Clinic study found a new surgical method to treat young and adult patients suffering from congenital intestinal malrotation. The disease is commonly known as gut malrotation and is an inherited disorder that causes the small and large intestines to twist, which can be fatal. The research explains the occurrence of disease in both adults and children and detects the patients having the risk of intestinal loss, and evaluates the longstanding results after various operational involvements.

The traditional surgical method of gut malrotation is known as Ladd’s Procedure, which provides relief to the problem and short-term improvements in symptoms, however, it does not guarantee prevention of recurring future twisting of guts and lethal complications. The lead author of the study Dr. Kareem Abu-Elmagd, M.D., Ph.D., developed a new surgical procedure to correct the gut malrotation with the purpose of easing the gastrointestinal symptoms and avoiding complicated procedures such as gut transplantations. In this new procedure, the twisted intestines are reorganised and secured in their natural anatomic positions, which helps avert the guts from twisting again. It improves the quality of patient’s life by resolving the digestive symptoms. 80 patients having intact intestines and disabling symptoms were part of this study, where the newly developed Kareem’s procedure was performed on them. 92% of the subjects were adults and remaining 8% were children. 

The results of the Kareem’s procedure showed significantly improved digestive symptoms in the patients. The 10 years of follow-up shows that most of the patients were eating normally and living a better life. No patient developed any complication after the Kareem’s procedure. The surgical procedure is claimed to be safe and effective to be performed in intestinal malrotation patients of every age including patients who developed complications after Ladd’s procedure.