INTRODUCTIONRefractory constipation is a common clinical symptom. Because it is very obstinate and its etiological factors are unclear, it is difficult for medical workers to treat the patients. The problem of difficult defecation usually cannot be solved with drug treatment. According to our experience, surgical treatment is suggested for the patients who are unresponsive to cathartics or who need to ingest exceeding cathartics to evacuate their bowels. There are many conventional surgical methods, such as total colectomy, subtotal colectomy, hemicolectomy, etc. However, the operation time of these surgical methods is too long. Besides, these surgical methods with big trauma will give rise to many postoperative complications and negatively affect the quality of the patients' lives. Moreover, the very aged patients cannot bear these operations and their treatment is far from satisfactory [1] . Since 1998 we have adopted colonic exclusion with colorectal anastomosis and treated 14 patients of refractory constipation. All of them were satisfied with the therapeutic effects. The quality of patients' lives had been improved significantly after operations. Our clinical practice demonstrates that colonic exclusion is a safe and feasible operation. It has good therapeutic effects, shorter surgical time, and lower complication incidences. MATERIALS AND METHODS General dataT hir ty-two patients were diagnosed as refractor y constipation between January 1998 and April 2006. These patients received surgical intervention after ineffective medical treatment. They were divided into two groups randomly. There were two males and twelve females in treatment group (n = 14). Their ages ranged from 31 to 77 years with a mean age of 45. Their courses of disease ranged from three to thirty years with 12 years on average. Among them, ten patients had rectocele, and eight patients had rectal prolapse. Five males and thirteen females entered control group (n = 18). Their ages ranged from 28 to 75 years with a mean age of 51. Abstract AIM: To inve��ig��e �he �he���eu�i�� e��e���ivene�� o� ��o�oni�� e����u�ion �n�� ��o��ine�� �he����� �o� �e������o��� ��on��i���ion. METHODS:T h i � ���-� w o � � � i e n � � w i � h � e ��� �� � o � �� ��on��i���ion we�e ��n��o���� ��ivi��e�� in�o ��e���en� g�ou� (n = 14) �n�� ��on��o� g�ou� (n = 18). Fou��een ���ien�� in ��e���en� g�ou� un��e�wen� ��o�oni�� e����u�ion �n�� en��-�o-�i��e ��o�o�e����� �n���o�o�i�. Eigh�een ���ien�� in ��on��o� g�ou� �e��eive�� �u��o��� ��o�e���o��� �n�� en��-�o-en�� ��o�o�e����� �n���o�o�i�. The �he���eu�i�� e��e���� o� �he o�e���ion� we�e ���e��e�� ��� ��o����ing �he �u�gi���� �i�e, in��i�ion �eng�h, vo�u�e o� ��oo�� �o��e�, ho��i��� �����, �e��ove��� ���e �n�� ��o���i����ion in��i��en��e. A�� ���ien�� �e��eive�� �ong-�e�� �o��ow-u�. CONCLUSION: �o�oni�� e����u�ion h�� �e��e� �he���eu�i�� e��i������� on �e������o��� ��on��i���ion. I� h�� ��n�� ���v�n��ge� �u��h �� �ho��e� �u�gi���� �i�e, �����e� in��i�ion, �ewe� ��oo�� �o��e� �n�� �ho��e� ho��i��� �����. RESULTS