Melissa Kyriakos Saad¹, Karam Karam², Elias Fiani³, Charbel Fares⁴, Elias Saikaly⁵*

¹Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
²Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
³Department of Gastroenterology, Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
⁴Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Department of radiology, Beirut, Lebanon
⁵Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Department of General Surgery, Beirut, Lebanon, Saint George University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

*Corresponding Author: Elias Saikaly, Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Department of General Surgery, Beirut, Lebanon, Saint George University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

Received: May 24, 2024; Published: June 10, 2024

Abstract

An infrequently seen and rarely reported complication after colorectal surgery is chylous ascites. It is a clinical subject of increasing significance after colorectal surgery especially that once it occurs it impacts the postoperative recovery and may lead to malnutrition, electrolytes imbalances, protein and lymphocyte loss. However, with the advent of extended lymphadenectomy and adaption of total mesocolic excision in colorectal resections, more cases of chylous ascites are being seen and reported. It is generally regarded as postoperative buildup of chyle in the peritoneal cavity, characterized by the appearance of milky fluid and elevated triglyceride levels in the surgically placed drains. Chylous ascites post colorectal surgery is considered an infrequent event, and due to its rarity the etiology, the diagnosis and management options are not well established with no universal guidelines present to guide its treatment. Having said this, the goal of this article is to review the medical literature regarding chylous ascites post colorectal surgery in order to elucidate the definition, the grading and describe its incidence, the clinical presentation, risk factors, and the management options of this complication.

Keywords: Chylous Ascites; Resections; Post Colorectal

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Citation

Citation: Elias Saikaly., et al. “Chylous Ascites Post Colorectal Resections". Acta Scientific Gastrointestinal Disorders 7.7 (2024): 14-17.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2024 Elias Saikaly., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.