The ACE operation brings a small tube called the appendix to the surface of the body. This allows the child's mother to insert a tube directly into the colon, or lower bowel, and to then wash out any faeces while the child sits on a toilet.

This takes about 30 minutes, and the tube, or catheter, is then removed until the next washout, usually in 48 hours.

Children are often able to read, or even do their home work during an ACE session!

This operation has become very simple. Originally, I performed an elaborate operation with the appendix which could take up to two hours to complete. Now I do a very simple key-hole operation which often takes less than fifteen minutes.

I make a tiny incision just below the belly button and insert a telescope. Through a similar incision in the lower right of the abdomen I retrieve the appendix and suture it to the abdominal skin. I leave a catheter in the appendix for 6 weeks after the operation, then we insert a special ACE stopper between washouts.