Delving into Diverticulitis скачать в хорошем качестве

Delving into Diverticulitis

It is a gut-wrenching condition. Diverticulitis leads to more than 800,000 hospital visits a year in this country. Seen more often in western cultures, experts believe it’s brought on by what we eat, or don’t eat. “Diverticular disease is very common in our country. We don’t drink enough water, we don’t eat enough fiber, we get these pockets called diverticulum,” says Dr. Kiet Doan, who is a general surgeon with Lee Memorial Health System. These pouches form in the wall of the colon and can become very painful during digestion. Diverticulitis occurs when the pockets become inflamed or infected. When cases are severe, repeated, or involve infection or a fistula, surgeons may remove part of the colon. “We would resect the portion of the disease and put everything back together,” says Dr. Doan. This painful condition used to involve a large operation with a painstaking recovery. Called a bowel resection, the incision itself opened the body from sternum to pubic bone. “Traditionally, patients stayed in the hospital minimum 7-10 days because the big incision was more painful with a slow return to activity,” says Dr. Doan. Today more than half of these cases are performed laparoscopically, operating by inserting tools through small poke holes. “We’re able to go in there with a camera and two or three additional instruments, cut a section of the colon out, able to put everything back and remove the specimen through a small incision,” says Dr. Doan. This smaller surgery accomplishes the same result; only patients go home in an average of three days with a much smoother recovery. “They recover a lot quicker. You didn’t have to cut through a lot of muscle to get to the abdomen,” says Dr. Doan. Still considered a last resort, surgery for diverticulitis doesn’t have to be a pain in the gut. View More Health Matters video segments at leememorial.org/healthmatters/ Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries. Visit leememorial.org