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Total colectomy with IRA in ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, familial polyposis and multicentric colonic cancer is still debated. In this paper the Authors present their experience with a retrospective review of 57 patients, treated in the Surgical Department of Pisa's University from 1978 to 1990. Through the results obtained, it is concluded that total colectomy with IRA is a valid procedure in the treatment of multiple polyposis, but must be associated with a long and careful follow up using fulguration for local recurrence. The usefulness of this treatment in multicentric colonic cancer is confirmed. However, the use of IRA in ulcerative colitis is debatable. This series shows the failure of colectomy with IRA in patients with Crohn's disease, due to the high incidence of local recurrences requiring reoperation.

In this report the Authors present the case of an old patient treated for chronic recurrent bleeding from small bowel angiodysplasia. The diagnosis was missed by the conventional methods: angiography and scintiscan with marked erythrocytes. Diagnosis was instead possible by using intraoperative enteroscopy. The Authors stress the usefulness of this technique that permits the exploration of the mucosal by trans-illumination to discover bleeding and vascular anomalies of the bowel.

Among Crohn's disease complications, perforation in free peritoneum is extremely rare, this being due to the disease's anatomopathological characteristics. Three cases of free perforation are described: one of the colon and two of the intestine. On the basis of the results of surgical treatment, straightforward suture of the perforation is contraindicated. The most rational treatment, when possible, is resection with immediate or deferred reconstruction.