Crohn's disease surgery
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Crohn's disease |
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Crohn's disease surgery On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Crohn's disease surgery |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Crohn's disease surgery |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Two-thirds to three-quarters of patients with Crohn’s disease will require surgery at some point in their lives. Surgery becomes necessary when medications can no longer control symptoms. Surgery is used either to relieve symptoms that do not respond to medical therapy or to correct complications such as blockage, perforation, abscess, or bleeding in the intestine. Surgery to remove part of the intestine can help people with Crohn’s disease, but it is not a cure. Surgery does not eliminate the disease, and it is not uncommon for people with Crohn’s Disease to have more than one operation, as inflammation tends to return to the area next to where the diseased intestine was removed.
Surgery
Two-thirds to three-quarters of patients with Crohn’s disease will require surgery at some point in their lives. Surgery becomes necessary when medications can no longer control symptoms. Surgery is used either to relieve symptoms that do not respond to medical therapy or to correct complications such as blockage, perforation, abscess, or bleeding in the intestine. Surgery to remove part of the intestine can help people with Crohn’s disease, but it is not a cure. Surgery does not eliminate the disease, and it is not uncommon for people with Crohn’s Disease to have more than one operation, as inflammation tends to return to the area next to where the diseased intestine was removed.
Colectomy
- Colectomy is the method of surgery employed.
- Some people who have Crohn’s disease in the large intestine need to have their entire colon removed in an operation called a colectomy.
- A small opening is made in the front of the abdominal wall, and the tip of the ileum, which is located at the end of the small intestine, is brought to the skin’s surface.
- This opening, called a stoma, is where waste exits the body.
- The stoma is about the size of a quarter and is usually located in the right lower part of the abdomen near the beltline.
- A pouch is worn over the opening to collect waste, and the patient empties the pouch as needed. The majority of colectomy patients go on to live normal, active lives.
- Rarely only the diseased section of intestine is removed and no stoma is needed. In this operation, the intestine is cut above and below the diseased area and reconnected.
- Because Crohn’s disease often recurs after surgery, people considering it should carefully weigh its benefits and risks compared with other treatments.