What surgery is offered for ulcerative colitis?
Some people with ulcerative colitis may need surgery to remove their colons because of severe bleeding, rupture of the colon, precancerous changes or cancer. Your doctor may also advise surgery if medications do not improve symptoms or if you cannot tolerate medication side effects. You may need to have one of two procedures to remove the colon and rectum. They are: • Total proctocolectomy with ileostomy or • Total proctocolectomy with ileal-anal pouch What is total proctocolectomy with ileostomy? In this procedure, the entire colon and rectum are removed. The surgeon will make a small opening in the lower right part of the abdomen, called a stoma. The end of the ileum (the last part of the small intestine) is then attached to the stoma. Stool will come out of the stoma and collect in an ostomy pouch worn over the stoma. What is total proctocolectomy with ileal-anal pouch? After the colon and rectum are removed, the surgeon will make a pouch out of the ileum. This pouch, also called a
