J pouch surgery is a complex one, used to treat colitis and other diseases. The procedure is done to remove the damaged colon tissue and allowing the patient to have “normal” movements of the bowel, with the stool going through the anus. During this surgery, you will get multiple procedures where the colon gets removed, the small intestine is reconstructed, and then stool leaves in a controlled manner.
The Procedure Itself
This is usually created from the end of your small intestine, creating a J shape for it to wait until you get a bowel movement.
Like the rectum that’s removed during this, the J pouch doesn’t just store stool, but usually the patient controls the bowel movement, and it eliminates the need for an ileostomy. J pouch surgery is usually done in a couple of steps, with two surgeries performed about 2-3 months between each other. The first step is colon removal, the ileostomy formation, and sometimes the J pouch creation.
By this point, the small intestine and the large intestine are separate, and leave via the stoma. For the next few months after the J pouch is healed up, the patient lives with an ileostomy, and then when ready, they then get the next procedure, which is where stool is formed, traveling through your small intestine, to the J pouch, and then through the body like how it did back when you had a rectum.
These two types of surgery are usually the most common kinds of performances, and sometimes, they can do this with one step, where the ileostomy doesn’t get made, the rectum and colon get removed, and then they make a J pouch in your rectal stump, all in one procedure.
In some cases, they may do this in three different phases, and usually involve up to a 7 day hospital stay. This can be complex, and hard to understand without a visual aid and such, which is why it’s hard to sometimes be ready for it.
After Surgery
Usually, once completed, it might be a long time before you get “normal” bowel movements. Normal post j pouch surgery usually doesn’t mean normal from the standards of the person that’s there. Usually the bowel movements aren’t as controlled, don’t happen often, may not be formed, and might be painful. It can have a smooth consistency.
You may experience up to six movements that are controlled in most cases. Someone may think this is an improvement from bloody diarrhea, but usually it can be a bit weird to adjust. In general, once recovery is complete and the person learns which foods aggravate it, usually, it feels good. There are come complications that can happen. one of them includes the nutrition may be decreased in some cases.
Some may also have strictures, which can narrow the anus cause of scarring, which can obstruct the bowels, make the food a bit difficult, or the stool has trouble moving through your digestive tract when it comes to these movements.
You also may have skin erosion, since there is nothing that’s absorbing the excess acid in this case. Sometimes, it may cause burning. Incontinence may happen during recovery too, along with pochettes, which is usually when the pouch is inflamed.
It also may cause diarrhea or more loose stools in some cases. Sometimes, this is common, and if you’re eating stuff that isn’t starchy, it may cause issues with the stool. Finally, dehydration can happen in some cases due to the excessive bowel movements, and the diarrhea should usually be monitored, and the fluid intake should increase.
