Anal endosonography is useful for postoperative assessment of anorectal malformations

Embryonic development of the internal anal sphincter in rats with anorectal malformations

“…In a prior anatomical study, IAS has been regarded as a missing or hypoplastic structure in patients with high and intermediate ARMs Therefore, little attention has been paid to the preservation of this structure [10]. However, studies on histology [6,[11][12][13][14], manometry [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], electromyography [14], anal endosonography [19,[21][22][23][24][25][26], magnetic resonance imaging [26,27], and computed tomography [27][28][29] have shown that IAS in ARMs is situated in the region of the fistulous bowel termination and the ectopic anus. It has been reported that RAIR presented in the low, intermediate, and high ARMs postoperatively in the manometric findings [11,18,[30][31][32].…”

Evaluation of outcome of anorectal anomaly in childhood: the role of anorectal manometry and endosonography

“…Our study is limited by the fact that ARM has been carried out in most children under ketamine anaesthesia, which does not affect the IAS function, but it does not enable the EAS function and sensation to be assessed meaningfully. Emblem et al have reported the role of ES and anatomical integrity of anal sphincters for achieving faecal continence after repair of ARA [15]. Indeed their scoring systems should be reproducible and suitable for the overall evaluation of the anatomical qualities of anorectal reconstructions.…”

“…ES is easily performed and is of great value for recording sphincter defects in patients with anal fistulas and abscesses, muscular dystrophy, idiopathic faecal incontinence and ARA [8,[13][14][15]. The ES is a validated technique that can be applied with confidence to children with repaired ARA.…”

Laparoscopic repair of anorectal malformations at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital: taking stock

“…Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty allows direct visualization of these muscles by a wide midline incision in the posterior sagittal plane. This plane splits the muscle apart rather than divides fibers; however, a degree of perineal scarring is unavoidable and can be visualized with anal endosonography and magnetic resonance imaging [10,11]. Laparoscopic-assisted anorectoplasty utilizes a minimally invasive approach to place the rectum within a tract between the muscle complex that is radially dilated, hence minimizing perineal scarring and disruption of external sphincter fibers [3,7,11].…”