Sutureless bowel anastomosis with a biofragmentable ring in Crohn's disease

A biofragmentable anastomosis ring has recently been developed and is used in end-to-end intestinal anastomosis. It is composed of 2 circular polyglycolic acid (Dexon) components which are interdigitated to form a sutureless anastomosis. We used it in an ileo-ileal and 2 ileo-colic end-to-end anastomoses in 3 patients with Crohn's disease in the past 6 months. Postoperative recovery of bowel function and oral feeding were comparable to that in patients after conventional anastomoses with sutures or staplers. Experience accumulated in 2 large multicentric comparative studies proved that the ring is a safe, fast and effective method for bowel anastomosis. We found it to be safe even in Crohn's disease.