Combined General and Spinal Anesthesia in an Infant With Single-Ventricle Physiology Undergoing Anorectoplasty for an Imperforate Anus

Abstract

ANORECTAL MALFORMATIONS including an imperforate anus occur with an incidence of 1:5,000 live births. Although they may occur as an isolated defect, an association with congenital anomalies in other organ systems is common. Current surgical therapy has evolved to allow a single-stage approach for the correction of a low imperforate anus by using a posterior sagittal anorectoplasty as described by de Vries and Peña1 in 1982. The procedure is generally performed shortly after birth to avoid the need for and thereby the potential complications related to nonrestorative procedures such as colostomy.