In cases of severe disease, medications are often not always sufficient for treating one’s symptoms, and surgery may be required. An estimated 75% of individuals with Crohn’s disease and approximately 23-45% of patients with ulcerative colitis require some type of surgery to manage their condition. 1 2
When medications are unable to sufficiently control disease, areas of severely diseased bowel can be removed and an ostomy may become a viable option. In this section, we discuss the different surgeries used to help treat inflammatory bowel disease.
To visualize what the digestive anatomy generally looks like prior to colorectal surgery, please refer to Figure 4 below.
There are many types of surgery
for Crohn’s Disease patients:
Written by Tina Aswani Omprakash. Medically reviewed and validated by Jordan Axelrad, MD, MPH. These webpages are funded by a grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
Contact Us
United Ostomy Associations of America
P.O. Box 2293
Biddeford, ME 04005-2293
Call us toll-free at: 1-800-826-0826.
Our Information Line hours are Monday-Friday, 9am to 3pm EST. If you have an emergency, please dial 911 or contact your local medical professional.
Please understand that UOAA is a private, nonprofit, advocacy and informational organization. We are not a medical facility and we do not have medical or legal professionals on staff. Therefore, UOAA does not provide Medical, Mental Health, Insurance or Legal Advice. Visit UOAA Virtual Ostomy Clinic provided by The Wound Company for non-emergency, virtual ostomy support.
