Digestive Disorders That Require Surgical Corrections

Introduction:

Digestive disorders are disease conditions affecting the digestive system of humans. The digestive system includes the esophagus, stomach, large intestine, small intestine rectum, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. Some digestive disorders resolve by themselves, medication, or dietary modifications. But some digestive disorders require surgery to bring them back to normal functioning. The disorders that require surgical correction are mentioned below.

What Are the Digestive Disorders That Require Surgical Corrections?

Diseases Affecting Gallbladder:The gallbladder is an organ that stores bile and is situated near the liver. Bile is a substance that helps to digest fat. The disease affecting the gallbladder include inflammation, formation of gallstones due to excess bile production, any type of growth in the gallbladder like a cancerous growth, or any obstruction in the bile duct.

• Symptoms:A typical type of pain or a dull aching pain occurring in the right side of the abdomen under the ribs. It also includes the change in the color of urine and stools, fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting.

• Diagnosis: It is made based on the history of the patient, physical examination, and some diagnostic procedures. The diagnostic procedures include testing of the blood to know the counts, imaging techniques like ultrasound, endoscopic ultrasound, which combines the usage of endoscope and ultrasound in one diagnostic procedure, and HIDA scan, which helps to know the status of the gallbladder.

• Treatment: The permanent solution for the disease affecting the gallbladder is surgery. In the surgery, the gallbladder is removed. Mainly laparoscopic surgery and robotic surgeries are the mainly used methods for the treatment.

Inflammation of the Appendix: The appendix is a finger-shaped projection from the large intestine (colon). Inflammation occurs when any blockage or irritation occurs in the appendix.

• Symptoms: It includes sudden sharp and severe pain in the navel button, which then moves towards the right side. It is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, fever, and constipation.

• Diagnosis: It is made based on the history of the disease, physical examination, and some diagnostic procedures. The diagnostic procedures include blood testing of urine and some imaging techniques like X-ray, ultrasound, and MRI to confirm the inflammation of the appendix.

• Treatment: It is the surgical removal of the appendix. This procedure of removing the appendix is known as appendectomy. Appendectomy can be performed in two ways; one is open surgery, and the other is laparoscopic surgery. In open surgery, a long abdominal incision is made, and the inflamed appendix is removed. In the case of laparoscopic surgery, it is done with the help of a camera and specialized equipment to remove the appendix.

Disease Conditions Affecting the Small and Large Intestines: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a condition affecting the intestine causing pain and swelling. There are two disease conditions associated with IBD: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn's disease mainly affects the small intestine, and ulcerative colitis mainly affects the large intestine.

• Causes: It is considered a hereditary type of disease state, or it can result from a misunderstanding of the immune system; in that case, antibodies are produced against one's own body when food reaches the stomach. Other causes can be medication, smoking, and stress.

• Symptoms: Gas production in the stomach, fullness felt in the stomach referred to as bloating, reduced appetite, weight loss, pain in the abdominal region, diarrhea, or constipation it depends on the patient.

• Diagnosis: In order to diagnose the situation, proper case history and physical examination are required. Certain tests and imaging techniques are required to confirm the disease including testing of blood testing of fecal matter. Imaging techniques including colonoscopy, endoscopy, and sigmoidoscopy. MRI and CT scans can also be taken.

• Treatment: Surgery is the best choice if medications do not cure Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In the surgery for Crohn's disease, the diseased areas are removed, and healthy areas are connected. In surgery for ulcerative colitis, the complete removal of the colon and rectum occurs; for removing the fecal matter, a pouch is attached to the anus.

Disease State Affecting the Rectum: Rectum prolapse is a disease in which the rectum is pushed out through the anus. Rectum is a part of the large intestine, which is then connected to the anus. In some cases, the rectum that is protruded through the anus comes back to its normal position.

• Causes: It can be caused due to numerous factors; when age progresses, after delivery, due to constipation causing straining of the muscles.,and previous surgeries are done in that region.

• Symptoms: It can be a small mass that protrudes as the patient passes the fecal matter, bleeding from the rectum, and pain in the area often called anal pain.

• Diagnosis: It is made based on the history and rectal examination. The diagnostic test includes a colonoscopy to view the lower gastrointestinal tract using a barium contrast agent, defecography (in this procedure, a contrast agent is used along with an X-ray and MRI)

Treatment: The only way of treatment is surgery. It can be done in two ways. In one method, the rectum is attached to the spine to prevent rectal prolapse, and in another method, part of the rectum is removed and other parts connected.

Disease Affecting the Diverticula: Diverticula are small pockets or bulges present in the walls of the large intestine. The inflammation of the diverticula is known as diverticulitis. Diverticulitis is seen more in the lower portion of the large intestine, known as the sigmoid colon.

• Causes: The cause of diverticulitis is inflammation, tear, or any infection. The symptoms include abdominal pain on the left side, fever, chills, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, and nausea.

• Diagnosis: It is made confirmatory based on the several diagnostic procedures done. Testing of blood, urine, and fecal matter is done to rule out any sort of infection. Imaging techniques like CT scan and viewing the lower gastrointestinal tract using barium is helpful. CT scan helps to view the pouches; it can aid in confirming disease.

• Treatment: If the disease appears mild, it can be treated by antibiotics and dietary modification. If the severity of diverticulitis increases, it can only be treated by means of surgery. The two surgeries done mainly are primary bowel resection (in this affected areas are removed and healthy parts are joined) and bowel resection with colostomy. These can be done by open surgical technique and laparoscopic method based on the condition of the patient and the extent of involvement.

Occurrence of Any Bulging in the Abdominal Area: Usually, the occurrence of bulging in the abdominal area is known as a hernia. Hernia is the occurrence of a bulge due to protruding organs or contents of the abdomen through a gap present. There are different types of hernia present. In order to resolve a hernia, surgery is the best treatment option. The different types of hernias are hiatal hernia, umbilical hernia, inguinal hernia, and ventral hernia.

• Causes: The causes of hernia are aging, straining during bowel movements, lifting the heavy weight objects, chronic coughing, being overweight, and pregnancy. Symptoms of a hernia include a bulge present in the affected area; some hernias include sudden pain from the lump, vomiting, fever, and a color change to the bulge is also noted.

• Diagnosis: The diagnosis is made based on the history of the patient and the physical examination done. The physical examination allows the doctor to view the hernia. The doctor may ask the patient to cough or strain during the examination. Then, it is confirmed by an ultrasound scan, and an MRI can be done.

• Treatment: For the permanent cure for hernia, surgery is the option. Two methods, open surgery and laparoscopic, are based on the patient's condition. During open surgery, large incisions are made, and the bulge is pushed back into the abdomen. Then, the gap or any hole present is covered with a surgical mesh. In laparoscopic surgery, it is done with the help of a small camera and specialized tools.

Affecting the Colon: It is a cancerous growth that affects the large intestine. The initiation occurs from the small polyps present in the lining of the colon.

• Symptoms: It include bleeding from the rectum, fecal matter that contains stools, weight loss, vomiting tendency, the fullness of the stomach, tiredness, and pain in the anus and rectum area.

• Diagnosis: Biopsy helps to rule out cancer easily. Biopsy tissue can be obtained from the scrapings during colonoscopy. In addition, various other blood tests are done to evaluate the patient's overall health.

• Treatment: If the rectal polyps are the reason, it is removed using polypectomy. A partial colectomy is a treatment of choice to remove the cancerous part of the colon. Laparoscopic methods are also used.

Conclusion:

Digestive disorders can be treated in many ways. But in some cases, surgery is the best treatment option for a good prognosis, then always good to go for that. Nowadays, surgery has become more simple by using laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgeries.