Rear Admiral Dr. Ton Khongpensuk, Specialist in General Surgery and Colorectal Surgery, Phyathai 2 Hospital spoke about many patients suffering from intestinal system diseases who need immediate intestinal surgery. Many are worried, and some refuse treatment, causing treatment problems that may be ineffective or symptoms worsening due to delayed treatment. Delayed surgery can lead to complicated and difficult treatment problems. Patients should follow the doctor’s advice or diagnosis to ensure effective treatment and faster recovery before other complications arise.
Who Needs Intestinal Surgery?
Excluding congenital abnormalities, they can be divided into two main categories:
1. Patients who have suffered abdominal trauma causing intestinal rupture or perforation, or damage to blood vessels supplying the intestines. If the doctor diagnoses that surgery is necessary, intestinal surgery should be performed as soon as possible.
2. Patients with intestinal diseases usually receive medication or non-surgical treatment first. However, if the disease cannot be treated with medication, such as appendicitis or certain diseases that do not improve with medication, surgery is necessary. Examples include chronic intestinal inflammation and intestinal tuberculosis. These diseases are initially treated with medication, but if symptoms such as severe intestinal obstruction, intestinal bleeding, or worsening abdominal pain persist, surgery is required. In cases of colorectal cancer, the main treatment is surgery to remove the tumor from the intestine, except when cancer has spread to other organs and cannot be completely removed. In such cases, chemotherapy is the primary treatment.
Complications After Intestinal Surgery
Surgeons must assess and treat to minimize adverse effects. The purpose of intestinal surgery is to remove disease or pathology from the patient’s body to restore normal function as much as possible. Possible complications from recent surgeries include leakage at the intestinal anastomosis, inflammation or infection at the surgical wound, and internal bleeding. However, these complications are very rare, and all surgeons take precautions to prevent them.
Complications that may occur some time after surgery include intestinal obstruction caused by scars or adhesions in the abdominal cavity. Additionally, bowel habits may change, such as more frequent or watery stools after surgery in certain parts of the intestine. Surgery near the lower intestine close to the anus may cause patients to have reduced control over bowel movements, resulting in frequent defecation several times a day. These symptoms usually improve and return to normal within 6 months to 1 year after surgery.
Consequences of Deciding Not to Have Intestinal Surgery or Delaying Treatment
Patients who suffer trauma and require immediate intestinal surgery, such as internal bleeding or intestinal rupture, may die from bleeding or abdominal infection if surgery is delayed.
Patients with intestinal diseases who initially refuse surgery and delay it may experience increased complications and disease progression. Treatment becomes more complicated and difficult. Moreover, returning to normal life takes longer. Instead of timely surgery, treatment is prolonged, and recovery after surgery takes more time.
For cancer patients, if left untreated and surgery is not performed, the cancer may progress, and tumors in the intestine may spread or grow large enough to block the digestive tract, causing intestinal obstruction, perforation, or gastrointestinal bleeding. This also makes surgery more difficult. Patients with intestinal obstruction or perforation from cancer may require surgery with a colostomy, which differs from patients who receive timely surgery and have a much lower chance of needing a colostomy.
Intestinal Surgery Is Not as Scary as You Think
Nowadays, intestinal surgery with advanced technology, surgical techniques, and equipment, along with the expertise of specialized surgeons, greatly reduces complications compared to the past. Smaller incisions, less injury, and shorter recovery time after surgery also reduce adhesions or scars in the abdominal cavity, allowing patients to return to normal daily life, eat, and have normal bowel movements much faster. Therefore, there is no need to worry if the doctor diagnoses that surgery is necessary to ensure effective, fast, and timely treatment.
Rear Admiral Dr. Ton Khongpensuk
Specialist in General Surgery and Colorectal Surgery
Phyathai 2 Hospital
