For ulcerative colitis, doctors usually suggest the proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis or j-pouch surgery to treat the disease. These operations become necessary when medicines failed to show their effects.

The J-Pouch Surgery

The j-pouch is a kind of ostomy surgery that treats ulcerative colitis in the digestive tract of the patient. Well, this is creating a pouch in the internal organ of the person. Surgeons construct an ileal pouch anal-anastomosis (IPAA) or j-pouch with an on the ileum (the small intestine). During surgery, a doctor removes the colon and rectum to let you get rid of the disease, and fabricate a W, S, or J-shaped pouch on the last section of the small intestine. This is an internal pouch that will hold the stool. It will release the waste when the bowel moves. Moreover, it does not excrete the solid or liquid stool through the stoma, it uses the anal opening for this purpose.

The Surgical Procedure of J-Pouch

Well, first you need to understand that not every colon and rectum disease needs j-pouch surgery. Moreover, not every patient will go through this operation. As the pouch will stay on your small intestine which is an internal organ; therefore, a person should be strong enough to bear this internal bag. Thus, elderly persons, physically weak, or people who have any kind of heart, lungs, kidneys, or any other physical disease are not appropriate for the j-pouch or IPAA operation. Moreover, diabetic patients cannot pass through the ileal pouch-anal ostomy (IPAA).

The j-pouch operation is performed when a patient is suffering from ulcerative colitis. It needs two to three stages for the entire treatment. Moreover, a few risks and side effects are involved in the surgery; therefore, an overall physical condition of the patient should be good enough to handle this. Furthermore, the operation is a reversible procedure. A patient does live the whole life with an internal pouch; thus, a patient will go through the two or three surgeries; this is one of the primary reasons, you should be overall healthy and young enough.

During the first operation of the j-pouch, doctors will remove the colon and rectum. In many cases, they only eliminate a chunk of the colon. Moreover, they will preserve the anus. They do not change or remove the anal canal, it’s opening, and anus’s sphincter muscles. Then, the surgeons will change the shape of the ileum or the small intestine. They turn the ileum into the J, W, S-shaped pouch. The shape depends on the location of the disease on your ileum. Finally, they will connect the j-pouch to the anal canal. The feces will come out through the natural anus.

In a few cases, surgeons will create a temporary ileostomy. In this procedure, they will construct a stoma on the abdomen of the patient. They pull a section of the ileum to the opening in the belly wall. This will discharge the thick or thin feces. But, this is temporary. Upon the healing of the ileum or the small intestine, they will close the external opening. Well, when a patient has a stoma outside the stomach, they need to wear an ostomy pouch to cover and collect the waste of the body. Moreover, a patient will need to empty the bag several times a day. So, an ileostomy patient should wear a drainable pouching system. A person will feel comfortable while wearing it and emptying it.

Well, the second surgery will happen after twelve or fifteen weeks of the first operation. When the pouch will heal, doctors will reverse the ileostomy. They will close the external stoma and reconnect the ileum at its original position. After this, the internal j-pouch will collect the stool and pass it out through the anus.