Diverticulitis Surgery
Diverticulitis Surgery is done to treat diverticulitis which happens when small pouches in your digestive tract, known as diverticula, become inflamed.
Some facts about Diverticulitis Surgery:
- Sigmoid resection (sigmoidectomy) is the most common type of surgery for all forms of diverticular disease.
- The section of the large intestine that comes just before the rectum, at the end of the bowel is called as the sigmoid colon.
- Diverticula are usually found in your colon and become inflamed when they get infected.
- Although they aren’t harmful to your digestive system, but they can cause pain and other symptoms that can disrupt your daily life when they get inflamed.
Preparation for Diverticulitis Surgery:
- You need to stop taking medications that may thin your blood, such as ibuprofen (Advil) or aspirin a few weeks before your surgery.
- You should stop smoking temporarily or permanently if you’re ready to quit as smoking can make it harder for your body to heal after surgery.
- You need to wait for any existing flu, fever, or cold to break.
- Most of your diet should be replaced with liquids and laxatives should be taken to empty your bowels.
- You may also need to only drink water or other clear liquids, such as broth or juice in the 24 hours before your surgery.
- Do not eat or drink anything for up to 12 before the surgery.
- Any medications that your surgeon gives you should be taken right before surgery.
Procedure for Diverticulitis Surgery:
- Usually, Diverticulitis surgery done if your diverticulitis is severe or life-threatening.
- Diverticulitis can be managed by taking prescribed antibiotics, using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil) and drinking fluids and avoiding solid food until your symptoms go away.
- Surgery is recommended if you have multiple severe episodes of diverticulitis uncontrolled by medications and lifestyle changes, bleeding from your rectum, intense pain in your abdomen for a few days or more, constipation, diarrhea, or vomiting that lasts longer than a few days, blockage in your colon keeping you from passing waste (bowel obstruction), a hole in your colon (perforation) or signs and symptoms of sepsis.
- Bowel resection with primary anastomosis and Bowel resection with colostomy are two main types of surgery for diverticulitis.
- Any infected colon will be removed by your surgeon and the cut ends of the two healthy pieces from either side of the previously infected area will be sewed together in bowel resection with primary anastomosis.
- A colectomy will be performed by your surgeon and your bowel will be connected through an opening in your abdomen in bowel resection with colostomy.
- The opening in your abdomen is called a stoma.
- Colostomy will be done if there’s too much colon inflammation.
- The colostomy may be either temporary or permanent depending upon how well you recover over the next few months.
- Both of these procedure can be done as open surgery or laparoscopically.
- A six- to eight-inch cut will be made in your abdomen by your surgeon to open your intestinal area to view in open surgery.
- Only small cuts will be made by your surgeon in laparoscopic surgery.
- Small cameras and instruments will be placed into your body through small tubes (trocars) that are usually less than one centimeter in size to accomplish the surgery.
