Colorectal surgery for functional bowel disorders

•The Malone procedure (antegrade colonic irrigation), a so-called conservative surgery, can be a good therapeutic alternative. Conversely, sacral root neuromodulation has not shown benefit in chronic constipation.•Colectomy has a very limited place in the treatment of chronic constipation and should be offered only after failure of all medical and conservative treatments. Analysis of the literature shows a low level of “evidence-based” data due to the paucity and heterogeneity of the results.•Subtotal colectomy with ileo-rectal anastomosis is the standard surgical procedure.•The success rate after subtotal colectomy is 85%, with a recurrence rate of 15%. Abdominal pain and/or abdominal bloating are noted in 50% of cases.•Adhesion-related small bowel obstruction is the main long-term surgical complication after total colectomy, with a prevalence of 15%.•Other types of surgery (segmental colectomy or ceco-rectal anastomosis) may be offered, but the risk of failure is greater than after subtotal colectomy with ileo-rectal anastomosis.