Complications after bowel surgery
Even in the case of intestinal surgery, a distinction must be made between general and specific postoperative complications. Immediately after the surgical procedure, post-operative bleeding within the surgical area may occur, which may require further surgery. In addition, pain in the abdominal area is a typical postoperative complication that can be observed even after a successful intestinal surgery.
During the hospital stay, these pains can be effectively relieved by the administration of adequate painkillers. Bowel surgery is usually performed under general anesthesia. The substances administered can have a lasting effect on the cardiovascular system as well as the gastrointestinal tract.
In this context, there is a risk that the function of the intestine will be restricted for a longer period of time after general anesthesia has been removed. In general, it can be assumed that postoperative complications occurring immediately after surgery can be treated without any problems. The specific postoperative complications following bowel surgery, on the other hand, usually require more extensive therapy.
Especially the paralysis of individual bowel segments is one of the most feared postoperative complications after bowel surgery. The reason for this phenomenon is the immigration of immune cells that lead to a local inflammation in the surgical area. However, the activated immune cells do not just remain in the area of the operated intestinal segment but also reach other areas of the intestine via the blood stream.
The occurrence of extensive inflammatory processes can provoke a malfunction of the nerve fibers that regulate the control of intestinal movement. In the long run, this can cause a so-called intestinal obstruction through various mechanisms. Attempts to restore nerve function after the inflammatory processes have subsided are still considered almost impossible today.
In addition, late postoperative complications can occur even after successful bowel surgery.If parts of the intestine have to be removed during the surgical procedure, this can have a negative effect on the utilization of individual food components as well as the absorption of fluid into the body’s circulation. As a result, the patients concerned often suffer from pronounced deficiencies and persistent diarrhea. A further postoperative complication that can occur after a bowel operation involving the removal of large sections of the intestine is pain after eating.
In many cases, these complaints are caused by overuse of the remaining bowel. Furthermore, scar tissue may develop during the course of the intestinal surgery. This can be irritated by the passage of food.
If a chronic irritation of the intestinal mucosa occurs in this context, the development of inflammatory processes can be the consequence. For this reason, food intake should be strictly regulated immediately after the intestinal surgery. In most cases, only dietary food can be consumed over a longer period of time.
This is the only way to prevent overuse of the bowel and rupture of the bowel walls within the surgical area. In order to reduce the risk of the typical postoperative complications after bowel surgery, the patients concerned should strictly adhere to the physician’s rules of conduct. Failure to do so can lead to serious problems, which in most cases require lengthy and extensive treatment.
