Stapled Anastomosis Versus Hand-sewn for Neonate With Intestinal Atresia

Intestinal anastomosis in neonates with intestinal atresia has traditionally been performed using the hand-sewn end-to-end approach. After the introduction of stapled functional end-to-end anastomosis (FEEA) in neonates and infants by Powell in 1995, the procedure is gradually being accepted among pediatric surgeons. When treating intestinal atresia, great discrepancy between diameters of the proximal and distal intestine caused by disuse atrophy are often observed, which may cause difficulties and complications. To overcome size discrepancy, proficiency in performing anastomosis is required when using hand-sewn techniques. in theory, stapled functional end-to-end anastomosis does not require a special technique and does not impair the passage of intestinal contents immediately after completion because the side-to-side nature of the procedure retains the unique diameter of the target intestine and preserves patency. Stapled side-to-side functional end-to-end intestinal anastomosis is a potentially useful technique that is not affected by intestinal size discrepancy and does not require specialized surgical experience.To date, there have been a few studies about the safety and efficacy of stapled anastomosis in neonates and infants, which reported the efficacy of stapled over hand-sewn anastomosis, including shorter operative time, time to full feeding and hospitalization, and no difference in adverse outcomes between both types of anastomoses. These studies compared the clinical outcomes in neonates and infants. However,there are no high-quality clinical trials to verify its effectiveness. Therefore, the investigators compared the outcomes of stapled FEEA and hand-sewn anastomosis in neonate with intestinal atresia.