Left iliac fossa mini-incision sigmoidectomy for treatment of sigmoid volvulus. Case series of six patients from Qatar

BACKGROUND: Midline laparotomy is the definitive treatment for sigmoid volvulus after initial colonoscopic detorsion. We successfully adopted another technique at our center on 6 patients, treating sigmoid volvulus by left iliac fossa mini-incision. PRESENTATION OF CASES: We report our experience of six non-consecutive cases of sigmoid volvulus treated by left iliac fossa mini-incision. The cases were a 33 year old Egyptian female, a 21 year old Bangladeshi male, a 58 year old Qatari male, a 30 year old Ethiopian male, a 36 year old Ugandan male, and a 58 year old Indian male. The six cases are unique in the surgical technique employed in their management. This is possibly the second case series of left iliac fossa mini-incision for sigmoid volvulus in the Middle East and North Africa Region. DISCUSSION: All patients underwent initial colonoscopic detorsion followed by sigmoidectomy and anastomosis. The procedure was successful in treating the volvulus in five patients with no complication or recurrence over a mean follow up of 8 months (range: 1–36 months). One patient required further laparotomy and resection with anastomosis due to incompletely removed sigmoid colon. CONCLUSIONS: Left iliac fossa mini-incision for sigmoid volvulus is safe, feasible, cosmetically appealing and with low morbidity.