Diagnosis and treatment of ten patients with adult Hirschsprung disease

Objective To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of adult Hirschsprung disease. Methods The clinical data of 10 patients with adult Hirschsprung disease from August 2011 to August 2017 in the Department of General Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University were retrospectively analyzed. Results Among the 10 patients, 4 cases were male, and 6 cases were female, with age 21 to 65 years old, and body mass index 16.77 to 25.73 kg/m2. The patients were diagnosed with Hirschsprung disease by postoperative pathological examination. All patients had difficult defecation medical history. Barium enema examination in 3 patients before operation showed obvious narrow segment, migrating segment and dilatation segment. Four cases received emergency surgical operation, and 6 cases received selective surgical operation. Complications included intestinal obstruction in 3 cases, incisions infection in 2 cases, and incision rupture in 1 case. Conclusions Adult Hirschsprung disease is difficult to be diagnosed, and the aspect of medical history, barium enema examination, surgical findings and pathological examination has to be combined. The surgery way of AHD is diverse and ought to be individual. Laparoscopic surgery with small trauma and quick recovery has great development space. Key words: Hirschsprung disease; Adult; Diagnosis; Clinical protocols; Retrospective studies