Colon and Rectum Surgery | Puget Sound Surgical Center | Seattle Weight Loss Surgery and Bariatric Experts


	Colon & Rectum Click for animation. Colon cancer is cancer of the large intestine (colon), the lower part of your digestive system. Rectal cancer is cancer of the last 8 to 10 inches of the colon. Together, they are often referred to as colorectal cancers, and they make up the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Only lung cancer claims more lives. Most cases of colon cancer begin as small, noncancerous (benign) clumps of cells called adenomatous polyps. Over time some of these polyps become cancerous. Polyps may be small and produce few, if any, symptoms, so it's important to get regular screening tests to help prevent colon cancer. If signs and symptoms of cancer do appear, they may include a change in bowel habits, blood in your stool, persistent cramping, gas or abdominal pain. Despite the relatively high number of cases and deaths, there's good news about colon cancer. Screening tests, along with a few simple changes in your diet and lifestyle, can dramatically reduce your overall risk of developing colon cancer. Polypectomy Endoscopists remove most precancerous polyps during colonoscopy. Large polyps and those that can't be safely reached are removed surgically using minimally invasive techniques. Once a polyp is eliminated, it can't recur, but you have a moderate chance of developing new polyps in other areas of your colon in the future. For that reason, follow-up care is extremely important. Surgery Surgery is the main treatment for most colon cancers. At Puget Sound Surgical Center, surgeons perform the great majority of colon cancer surgeries using minimally invasive (laparoscopic) techniques. Our physicians have been at the forefront of the study and use of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer and perform hundreds of these procedures every year. Unlike traditional open surgery, which uses a long abdominal incision, laparoscopic surgery is performed through several small incisions that require just a stitch or two to close. The long-term outcomes for laparoscopic and open surgery are similar, but laparoscopic surgery offers important benefits to patients, including less post-operative pain, a shorter hospital stay — usually three days as opposed to a week or more — and a faster overall recovery. How much of the colon is removed depends on the location of cancer and how far it has penetrated into the wall of the bowel. Our colorectal surgeons remove only the portion of the colon that contains the tumor as well as nearby lymph nodes. They then reconstruct the bowel by connecting the healthy segments of your intestine. Within a few months, you should regain normal bowel function, although you may have more frequent bowel movements than you had before surgery. Advanced nerve-sparing techniques help preserve urinary and sexual function, even in patients who undergo extensive resections. Puget Sound Surgical Center is one of the few institutions where surgeons from different specialties remove tumors from more than one organ during the same operation. For instance, when colon cancer spreads to the liver, a colorectal surgeon and an expert in hepatobiliary (liver) surgery may work together to remove the cancer. By undergoing a single operation, you experience less trauma, recover more quickly and have a better long-term prognosis

Click for animation.

Colon cancer is cancer of the large intestine (colon), the lower part of your digestive system. Rectal cancer is cancer of the last 8 to 10 inches of the colon. Together, they are often referred to as colorectal cancers, and they make up the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Only lung cancer claims more lives.

Most cases of colon cancer begin as small, noncancerous (benign) clumps of cells called adenomatous polyps. Over time some of these polyps become cancerous.

Polyps may be small and produce few, if any, symptoms, so it's important to get regular screening tests to help prevent colon cancer. If signs and symptoms of cancer do appear, they may include a change in bowel habits, blood in your stool, persistent cramping, gas or abdominal pain.

Despite the relatively high number of cases and deaths, there's good news about colon cancer. Screening tests, along with a few simple changes in your diet and lifestyle, can dramatically reduce your overall risk of developing colon cancer. Polypectomy

Endoscopists remove most precancerous polyps during colonoscopy. Large polyps and those that can't be safely reached are removed surgically using minimally invasive techniques. Once a polyp is eliminated, it can't recur, but you have a moderate chance of developing new polyps in other areas of your colon in the future. For that reason, follow-up care is extremely important.

Surgery
Surgery is the main treatment for most colon cancers. At Puget Sound Surgical Center, surgeons perform the great majority of colon cancer surgeries using minimally invasive (laparoscopic) techniques. Our physicians have been at the forefront of the study and use of laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer and perform hundreds of these procedures every year.

Unlike traditional open surgery, which uses a long abdominal incision, laparoscopic surgery is performed through several small incisions that require just a stitch or two to close. The long-term outcomes for laparoscopic and open surgery are similar, but laparoscopic surgery offers important benefits to patients, including less post-operative pain, a shorter hospital stay — usually three days as opposed to a week or more — and a faster overall recovery.

How much of the colon is removed depends on the location of cancer and how far it has penetrated into the wall of the bowel. Our colorectal surgeons remove only the portion of the colon that contains the tumor as well as nearby lymph nodes. They then reconstruct the bowel by connecting the healthy segments of your intestine. Within a few months, you should regain normal bowel function, although you may have more frequent bowel movements than you had before surgery. Advanced nerve-sparing techniques help preserve urinary and sexual function, even in patients who undergo extensive resections.

Puget Sound Surgical Center is one of the few institutions where surgeons from different specialties remove tumors from more than one organ during the same operation. For instance, when colon cancer spreads to the liver, a colorectal surgeon and an expert in hepatobiliary (liver) surgery may work together to remove the cancer. By undergoing a single operation, you experience less trauma, recover more quickly and have a better long-term prognosis

Colon & Rectum