Diverticulitis Surgery

Diverticulitis surgeries are procedures that remove a part of your colon that diverticulitis affects. Diverticulitis happens when infection or inflammation damages small pouches (diverticula) that may develop in your colon. You may need diverticulitis surgery if:

• Medication and other or nonsurgical treatments aren’t effective
• The condition comes back many times after you have nonsurgical treatment (recurrent diverticulitis)
• A fistula forms between your colon wall and nearby organs like your bladder or vagina

Surgery to treat diverticulitis involves removing the part of your colon (partial colectomy) that diverticulitis affects.

The most common diverticulitis surgery is a sigmoid colectomy. Your sigmoid is the last part of your colon. Removing that section of your colon will eliminate your symptoms.

In some cases, your surgeon may do an ostomy after completing the colectomy. An ostomy is a surgical opening of intestine connected to the skin of your abdomen. You’d need an ostomy because surgery removes part of your colon. That means there’s no way for poop to move through your colon to your rectum and out of your body. An ostomy reroutes how poop leaves your body.

Types of diverticulitis surgeries

Your colorectal surgeon may perform one of the following surgeries:

Sigmoid colectomy

Your surgeon will remove the unhealthy part of your sigmoid colon. Then, they’ll connect the healthy parts of your colon. Your surgeon may make a large, vertical incision (cut) on your belly (open colectomy). They may also do a sigmoid colectomy by making small incisions (cuts) that are scattered across your belly. This is minimally invasive surgery.

Laparoscopic or robotic partial colectomy

In this procedure, your surgeon makes several small cuts on your belly. They use a laparoscope (a tiny video camera) with small tools to remove the part of your colon that diverticulitis affects. They may also do this with a robotic device (robotic surgery). Laparoscopic surgery typically causes less pain, and the incision heals more quickly than an open surgery.

Ostomy

An ostomy is a surgical opening of intestine connected to the skin of your abdomen. It changes how your body gets rid of poop. For diverticulitis, your surgeon may do a colostomy or an ileostomy if they can’t connect the healthy sections of your colon after removing the section that diverticulitis affects.

Colostomy

In a colostomy, your surgeon makes an opening through your belly wall and brings a section of your colon up to the skin. They open your colon and stitch it to the skin. Your poop goes out through the ostomy into a colostomy bag that’s on the outside of your belly. Usually, colostomies are temporary and can be reversed several months later.

Ileostomy

An ileostomy involves using a section of your small intestine (the ileum) to create a temporary way for poop to leave your body. Your surgeon may do an ileostomy as part of diverticulitis surgery if they need to connect a section of your colon to your rectum. The temporary ileostomy keeps poop from going through that connection.

In this procedure, your surgeon takes a section of your small intestine from an area above the new connection between your colon and rectum. They pull that part of your small intestine up through your belly wall. Then, they open your small intestine and stitch it to your skin. Your poop moves through your small intestine into a bag that’s on the outside of your belly.