Crohn's Disease - abdominal surgery
Crohn’s disease causes inflammation of your bowel. The disease most often affects the end part of your small bowel, called the terminal ileum. However, it can affect any part of your bowel.
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What is it for?
Treatment for crohn's disease
Treatment overview
Crohn’s disease causes your bowel wall to thicken, which can block food from passing through.
The affected area of your bowel can also fail to absorb nutrients from your food.
Surgery is usually recommended if medication fails to improve your symptoms.
The operation is performed under a general anaesthetic and usually takes an hour to 90 minutes.
Your surgeon will make a cut on your abdomen and remove the diseased part of your small bowel.
They will often need to also remove a part of your large bowel. Your surgeon will usually join the ends of your bowel back together.
If they are unable to join the ends of your bowel, they will make a colostomy or ileostomy (your bowel opening onto your skin).
Why choose The London Clinic
Excellence in one place
The London Clinic, in collaboration with Northwestern Medicine, operate as teams of experts with world-class resources, dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of care. Supported by the latest treatments, expert guidance, and a comfortable recovery environment in our patient rooms, you'll have everything you need to regain your best health.
Personal care, every time
Exceptional patient care is a way of life for us. We’ll be with you every step of the way, tailoring your care to your specific needs, including healthy and delicious meals designed to support your recovery. We keep our staff-to-patient ratio low, so our nurses, clinicians, therapists, and support teams can offer a personalised, quality experience.
Effortlessly simple
We work together as one to guide you through every step of your patient experience. From explaining your personal treatment plan to ensuring all details are taken care of, we make the process stress-free, so you can focus on your health. Whether it’s your first consultation or follow-up care, our teams are here to provide seamless support and the peace of mind you deserve.
What's included in your package?
Choosing The London Clinic means your treatment plan will be laid out for you, with all the details taken care of so you can focus on you.
Your treatment package will include:
- Enhanced pre-admission assessment
- Your treatment with our complete care team at your fingertips
- Personalised aftercare and follow-up
We want you to be in control of your health. That’s why we also offer optional services such as comprehensive recovery packages and extra touches for you to choose from during your stay with us. To help you manage the cost, we also offer a 0% finance option, allowing you to spread the payments for your treatment over 12 months with no added interest. Learn more about our finance options here.
How to pay
- You can use private medical insurance (PMI) to access this treatment. We work with all major PMI providers in the UK and many internationally
- You can pay for yourself (self-pay)
- If you’re paying for yourself, we have 0% finance options available with Chrysalis. Find out more here.
FAQs
Inflammation can be treated using medication such as mesalazine, steroids, azathioprine and infliximab. These have side effects and your doctor will discuss them with you.
Sometimes a narrowing of your bowel can be stretched by a procedure that uses a flexible telescope and a balloon dilator.
Your symptoms should improve. Your doctor may also be able to reduce or stop your medication.
- Pain
- Bleeding
- Infection of the surgical site (wound)
- Unsightly scarring of your skin
- Developing a hernia in the scar
- Blood clot in your leg
- Blood clot in your lung
- Chest infection
- Difficulty passing urine
Specific complications of this operation
- Damage to structures such as your bowel, bladder or blood vessels
- Developing a hernia near one of the cuts used to insert the ports
- Surgical emphysema
Surgery for crohn's disease complications
- Anastomotic leak
- Continued bowel paralysis
- Damage to other structures inside your abdomen
- Injury to your bowel
- Tissues can join together in an abnormal way
- Death. The risk is less the fitter you are
You should be able to go home after 3 to 10 days.
It may take up to 3 months for you to recover fully. Most people feel much better after the diseased part of their bowel has been removed.
Regular exercise should help you to return to normal activities as soon as possible. Before you start exercising, ask the healthcare team or your GP for advice.
Crohn’s disease sometimes comes back and affects another part of your bowel or a part near to where the join was made.