Linus Surgery Update

You may already know about Linus’s medical condition. If not, read this.

In August, we went to the Colorectal Center of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to visit the world’s leading experts in the field of anorectal malformations. Dr. Marc Levitt operated on Linus and repaired the defect. We are so happy that we went to Cincinnati and had the best surgeons in the world taking care of Linus.

To learn more about the actual surgery and repair, click the More link below. But first, here are some pictures.
Linus’s “home away from home”

Hanging out with Daddy

Playing in his crib

With his Granma and Granpa

Hanging out with (a picture of) Henry

Looking sharp in his teddy bear gown

Snoozing after surgery

The very yummy Edible Arrangements bouquet Cristin sent!

To understand more about Linus’s defect and surgical repair, take a look at this image. On the left, you’ll find a picture of normal male anatomy. On the right, an image of a rectoperineal fistula, the type of defect Linus had. You can see that the rectum exits the body in front of where the anus should be.

Linus’s defect is a perineal fistual where the rectum and fistula comes quite forward, almost to the scrotum. I learned from our local surgeon how Linus’s defect would have been “fixed” in the past according to out-of-practice methods: The opening that existed, which was teeny, would have been enlarged (dilated) to allow stool to pass. That would have made for a fairly normal baby-hood, but once he reached toddler hood, he would have had absolutely no chance for continence because his rectum would not exited out his anus.

The surgeon cut open the back of Linus’s buttocks, opening them like a book. He carefully cut the rectum away and physically moved it back towards where the anal sphincter already existed. He pulled the rectum through, trimmed the overlap and voila, Linus has a properly placed rectum in a new anus.

This procedure is called a “pull-through” or a posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP). You can watch one here.