Small bowel resection

Alternative Names: Small intestine surgery; Bowel resection - small intestine; Resection of part of the small intestine; Enterectomy

Small bowel resection is surgery to remove part or all of your small bowel. It is done when part of your small bowel is blocked or diseased.

The small bowel is also called the small intestine. Most digestion (breaking down and absorbing nutrients) of the food you eat takes place in the small intestine.

Description of Procedure

You will receive general anesthesia at the time of your surgery. This will make you asleep and pain-free.

If you have laparoscopic surgery:

• You will have three to five small cuts in your lower belly. The surgeon will pass a camera and medical instruments through these cuts.
• You may also have a cut of about 2 to 3 inches if your surgeon needs to put a hand inside your belly to feel the intestine or remove the diseased segment.
• Your belly will be filled with gas to expand it. This makes it easy for the surgeon to see and work.

If you have open surgery, you will probably have a cut about 6 inches long in your mid-belly.

• Your surgeon will locate the part of your small intestine that is diseased.
• Then your surgeon will put clamps on both ends of this part to close it off.
• The surgeon will remove the diseased part.

In both kinds of surgery:

• If there is enough healthy small intestine left, your surgeon will sew or staple the healthy ends of the small intestine back together. Most patients have this done.
• If you do not have enough healthy small intestine to reconnect, your surgeon will make an opening called a stoma through the skin of your belly. Your small intestine will be attached to the outer wall of your belly. Stool will go through the stoma into a drainage bag outside your body. This is called an ileostomy. The ileostomy may either be short-term or permanent.

Your surgeon may also look at lymph nodes and other organs in your belly area. Before surgery, the surgeon will talk with you about the possible need to remove other organs.

This surgery usually takes 1 to 4 hours.

Risks of Small bowel resection

Risks for any surgery are:

• Blood clots in the legs that may travel to the lungs
• Breathing problems
• Bleeding inside your belly
• Heart attack or stroke
• Infection, including in the lungs, urinary tract, and belly

Risks for this surgery include:

• Bulging tissue through the incision, called an incisional hernia
• Damage to nearby organs in the body
• Many episodes of diarrhea
• Problems with your ileostomy
• Scar tissue that forms in your belly and causes a blockage of your intestines
• Short bowel syndrome (when a large amount of the small intestine needs to be removed), which may lead to problems absorbing important nutrients and vitamins
• The ends of your intestines that are sewn together comes apart (anastomotic leak -- this may be life-threatening)
• Wound breaking open (dehiscence)
• Wound infections

Small bowel resection - series

Review Date: 1/24/2011
Reviewed By: Shabir Bhimji, MD, PhD, Specializing in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Midland, TX. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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