An Informative Look at Laparoscopic Surgery for Colon Cancer
There are over six-hundred thousand procedures performed each year to treat various colon diseases. Surgery is not considered to be a colon cancer cure, but instead the surgery can stop the further spread of disease. Having surgery also helps to alleviate discomfort and pain. In the past, patients who had colon cancer surgery had to have an open surgery method. This method usually required a hospital stay of eight days and six weeks of recovery time. Now, patients are offered the choice of having laparoscopic colon surgery performed.
Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer allows surgeons to perform the surgery through a small incision. This procedure is less invasive and often times have a shorter period of recovery time. In just a few days patients are able to return home and to start performing their normal daily routines.
In laparoscopic surgery the surgeon performs the operation through four or five small incisions. The incisions are only about half an inch long. The surgeon is able to watch an image of the patient’s internal organs on a monitor. This allows the surgeon to see exactly what is going on during the operation.
If a patient has a large tumor or colon cancer then the surgeon may have to remove the cancer and some of the tissue that surrounds the cancer. This is called a partial colectomy. The doctor will remove the lymph nodes that are located near the colon. The lymph nodes will be studied under a microscope to see if the lymph nodes are also cancerous.
The doctor may decide to sew the colon back together, but if this is not possible then the doctor will make a colostomy. A colostomy is an opening that is made on the outside of the body in order for waste to pass through. The colostomy is sometimes only needed while the lower colon is healing. In other cases the colostomy may be permanent.
In preparing for laparoscopic surgery, the patient should have a shower the night before or the morning of the surgery. The patient must drink a large volume of a special cleaning solution. Your doctor may also recommend that you eat a clear liquid diet several days before the operation. Make sure to follow all of your surgeon?s instructions before the surgery.
After laparoscopic colon surgery is performed, the patient usually experiences a shorter period of recovery time. It has been proven that the recovery time can be shortened even more by chewing a stick of gum four times a day. By chewing gum, bowel functions are returned at a quicker pace. Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer is a less invasive and painful procedure.
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