Colon cancer is one of the common and the most dreaded of all diseases and is also one of the leading causes of death due to cancer. This condition thus needs to be dealt with at the earliest chance. The best available treatment for colon cancer is surgery. It would give you a permanent relief from this deadly disease.
There are many types of surgical methods which are presently available to treat colon cancer but every treatment has the same aim- to remove that part of the colon which is infected with the cancerous cells. The method is also referred to as the Colon resection.
Before the surgery can be performed you would be put through a series of tests to determine the location, length and other features of the infected portion. Most of the surgical methods takes around 2-4 hours and you are usually given anesthesia during the time of surgery.
Below are listed some of the most common and popular types of surgical methods to remove colon cancer –
Colonoscopic excision- This type of surgery is performed with a type of medical instrument called Colonoscope. Previously it was used to detect the colon, but with growing times and medical advancements the role of a Colonoscopy has been widened. Now a patient is put under the influence of a local anesthesia and the small polyps or cancerous adenomas.
Local Excision This is not actually a surgical method but it can be referred to as a prelude to the process of surgery. The operation is performed through the anus and the cells that are infected are taken out. They are then sent to the pathologists to determine the stage and depth of the colon cancer. They would determine if any advanced surgical methods like radiotherapy or chemotherapy is needed or not.
Bowel resection This type of surgery is performed through an opening in the abdominal area. Through this opening the infected cells are removed. Even the surrounding areas are cleaned of any impurities. The ends of the bowel are joined through a method called anastomosis. The patients who are suffering from rectal cancer are also provided with a temporary colostomy apart from Bowel resection.
After around 12 weeks tests are conducted to see if the colostomy opening can now be closed so that the bowel functions can return to its normal state. This process creates an opening on the side of the abdomen called stoma. The stoma is attached to the intestines as a result of which all the waste material goes through the stoma to a colostomy bag.
Abdominoperineal excision- This type of surgery is performed only in acute cases. If all the other methods of surgery failed to remove the cancerous cells then the entire rectum and the anal canal is removed. But people do not resort to this method as other methods of surgery are sufficient to cure colon cancer.
