UOAA Discussion Board

Hello,

I’m a fifty-year-old male and had an ileostomy in 2008 due to ulcerative colitis. Ever since the operation, I had hoped one day to have like to have the ileostomy taken down and reversed. Several years ago, I was told by a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic that I needed to get my weight down to 200 lbs. before undergoing the procedure. I’ve finally reached that goal and I’m now at a point where I can take time away from work to have the surgery. I have a couple of questions I was hoping folks might be able to help with: (1) If the procedure doesn’t go well, is it possible to go back to having the ileostomy again? (2) Are there any surgeons/hospitals that are best for having the operation? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes.

Good question and I'm curious to hear someone chime in. I'm going to talk to my surgeon today and I will have to ask him that along with my other questions.

Hopefully, your reversal surgery will work out well and produce satisfactory results. In the event that does not happen, there are two alternatives to the end ileostomy that do not require having an external bag with its associated issues. They are the Kock pouch and the similar BCIR. There is a lot of information on these two procedures available on the internet. Both procedures involve the creation of an internal pouch made from a short section of intestine and a valve also created from small intestine that keeps all stool and gas inside until you empty it at your convenience, with a small plastic catheter. Both of these procedures have a high success rate and very high patient satisfaction.

How are you doing ?