Consequences of the operation | Diverticulitis surgery – What are the risks?

Consequences of the operation

A diverticulosis patient is not cured after a successful operation. In most cases, diverticula are already present in several places in the bowel, so not all of them are removed during the operation. The affected person still tends to form new diverticula in the bowel and may develop diverticulitis, which may require repeated surgery.

After a complication-free procedure, no noticeable consequences for the patient are to be expected when a relatively small section of the colon is removed. Multiple resections and the removal of large sections of the colon increase the chance of complications (see above). The shorter the colon becomes, the more difficult it is to reabsorb water from the bowel movement into the body’s circulation during passage and the more mushy the excreted bowel movement becomes.

If the bowel was perforated and the abdominal cavity contaminated, an artificial bowel outlet (colostomy) must often be attached (Hartmann operation). This artificial bowel outlet requires special care and requires a certain amount of patient training. These patients are only slightly restricted in their everyday activities per se, but they often refrain from contact with other people, as they find the unplanned emptying of their bowel movements into the bag embarrassing and disturbing.

If the two ends of the bowel can be reconnected after a complication-free course, the patient will have a normal bowel movement as before the operation. Usually only a scar remains from the artificial bowel outlet. As a rule, the patient can leave the hospital after about 7 days.

In order not to strain the edges of the wound, physical protection is recommended. The external skin sutures are removed after 10-14 days, depending on how the wound heals. The stitches in the abdominal cavity and in the intestine are self-dissolving and thus remain in the body.

It is important that all patients are advised to avoid certain foods even after diverticulitis surgery. Since they still have diverticula, they should eat according to the recommendations in order to reduce new inflammatory attacks as much as possible.