When You May Need to Consider Removing Your Colon

In an ideal scenario, every component in your body goes the distance with you, serving you well for a lifetime. But life can have different plans, and disease or illness may require that you make a sacrifice for your greater good. This can be true of your colon, and the good news is that there are many who’ve gone before you with extremely good results.

At Desert West Surgery, our team of surgeons provides expert and compassionate care to Las Vegas area patients who are in need of surgical intervention. While we make every effort to preserve your organs, there can come a time when they present more of a liability than an asset, which can certainly be true of your colon.

Let’s take a look at when you should consider removing all, or part of, your colon.

Eradicating cancer

When it comes to cancer of any kind, one of the first lines of defense is to remove the dangerous cells before they spread and wreak havoc on other areas of your body. Every year in the United States, nearly 150,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and many undergo surgery to free their bodies of cancerous cells.

If you’ve been diagnosed with colon cancer, your surgical treatment depends upon the extent of the disease. In some cases, just the dangerous polyps can be removed, but if the disease has taken hold in your colon, we need to remove all of the diseased tissue. To perform a partial colectomy, we use the latest surgical techniques, including robot-assisted surgery, to remove the affected tissue as well as any lymph nodes in the area, which helps prevent the cancer from spreading.

In a partial colectomy, we remove just what’s needed and join the new ends together to preserve as much colon function as possible.

Digestive problems

There are many digestive conditions that can affect your colon to varying degrees, including:

• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Diverticulitis
• Inflammatory bowel disease

In their more severe forms, these conditions can lead to colonic bleeding, pain, obstruction, and other complications that can have a serious impact on your quality of life. If you’ve exhausted your treatment options, a partial or total colectomy may be the best solution for restoring your health and providing you with much-needed relief.

If you’re contemplating a surgery to remove all or part of your colon, we want to assure you that we have the experience and knowledge necessary to help you negotiate this major step. Our compassionate staff is also on hand to answer any questions you may have about colon surgery. Simply call our office for an appointment.