Colon Surgery (General)

Underlying Problem Requiring Colon Surgery:
While there are several reasons that a patient might need to undergo colon surgery, one of the most obvious is colon cancer. This disease can be devastating if not caught early enough, and the surgical options can be quite radical. On the other hand, if polyps are removed before they become cancerous, many patients can avoid developing cancer altogether. Additionally, the removal of cancerous tumors before they have penetrated too deeply into the colon wall has a very high survival rate.

Treatment:

Treatment plans that include colon surgery can vary quite a bit from one another. In some cases, the patient may only need a colonoscopy in order to screen for cancerous growths. This is a minimally-invasive procedure that involves inserting a tiny camera through the anus and into the colon so that doctors can view the tissue. At the same time, biopsies can be taken, and polyps can be removed.

Resections and colectomies are much more intensive forms of colon surgery. In these procedures, doctors must actually remove one or more segments of the colon and then suture the remaining portions together. In order to make the surgery possible, the patient will need to clean the colon through a liquid diet, as well as with the use of laxatives and enemas. The doctor may also prescribe antibiotics in advance of the surgery in order to minimize the risk of infection by lowering the amount of bacteria within the digestive tract.

Recovery from Colon Surgery:

Patients will be put under a general anesthetic during most major colon surgeries and will be required to stay in the hospital to begin the recovery process. The stay will often be about a week for open surgeries, and a few days if the doctor performed a laparoscopic procedure. Patients should let their doctors know if they end up experiencing a fever, increased pain, and drainage from or swelling or redness around the incision. The physical restrictions placed on a patient will depend upon the type of colon surgery performed and the doctor's recommendations.

Doctors may recommend colon surgery for patients who experience any of the following:

• Abscesses
• Bleeding Arteriovenous Malformations
• Bowel Obstructions
• Colon Cancer
• Crohn's Disease
• Diverticulitis
• Fistulas
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Strictures
• Volvulus or Twist

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