The place of intraoperative antegrade colonic irrigation in emergency left-sided colonic surgery.

The healing of colonic or colorectal anastomoses depends, at least partially, on the volume of fecal residue. Intraoperative antegrade colonic irrigation enables the surgeon to prepare the colon adequately at the time of surgery and to perform safely an immediate resection and primary anastomosis in obstructive lesions of the left colon. Its indications have been extended to other left-sided colonic emergencies, especially perforation and hemorrhage. The technique is described in this study and its value is assessed in the light of available experimental and clinical evidence.