Appendicostomy

Also known as: Malone procedure.

What is appendicostomy?

Appendicostomy is a treatment for fecal incontinence in school-age children. Typically, the candidate for appendicostomy is a child who is managing incontinence through a bowel management program but wants more privacy and less invasive enemas in order to treat the incontinence.

What happens during the procedure?

Instead of a typical enema, the appendicostomy provides a method of delivering an enema through a catheter that runs through the belly button. The procedure to insert this catheter involves a two-hour surgical procedure, and the child is placed under general anesthesia during the procedure.

Is any special preparation needed?

The patient will typically need to avoid food, drink and certain medications prior to the procedures. The child's body will also need to be free of stool before the procedure.

What are the risk factors?

Bleeding, infection, constipation, incontinence and a failure of the procedure to fix the problem are all potential risks of appendicostomy.

Reviewed by: Juan L Calisto, MD

This page was last updated on: November 11, 2020 02:55 PM