Bowel Obstruction and Colon Cancer

Bowel Obstruction can have different causes but needs immediate medical attention

Bowel obstruction can happen in two places: The small bowel and the large bowel (the colon).

A bowel obstruction often occurs when your bowel is partially or completely blocked. For people with colon cancer, this is likely the result of a tumor growing large enough to block their large bowel. Sometimes, the blockage happens because a tumor has grown into the bowel nerve supply therefore preventing the bowel muscles from working properly.

Fifty percent of all large bowel obstructions are caused by colon cancer.

When you have a bowel obstruction, the food you have eaten and digested is prevented from being eliminated as a stool by the blockage.

Symptoms of a Large Bowel Obstruction

Symptoms often appear slowly, and gradually grow worse over several weeks or months.

Your stomach might be bloated around and below your belly button. You may have a full feeling all the time.

You may have pain in your lower stomach underneath your belly button. The pain can either be mild and difficult to pinpoint or it may be sharp and severe. If the bowel pain is sharp and severe, this is an emergency and you need to call for medical assistance immediately.

You may have suffered from constipation off and on for several months, which has now worsened. You might have diarrhea from liquid stool escaping past the obstruction if the obstruction is partial.

In most cases, vomiting does not happen but it may in late stages of illness.

Other symptoms are bloody stools, appetite loss, weight loss and weakness.

If you think you have symptoms of a bowel obstruction, call your doctor right away.

Diagnosis of Large Bowel Obstructions

Your doctor will listen to your abdomen for bowel sounds and press gently on your stomach. In addition he will perform a digital rectal examination.

X-rays will be taken. The x-rays will show where the blockage is located because intestinal gas and liquid bowel contents will be above the blockage and gas will not be below the blockage.

A barium enema may be given to help locate the blockage. This test is not always used. An abdominal CT scan could be carried out.

You might also have a colonoscopy performed. This is a procedure where a camera on the end of a flexible hose is inserted into your colon. You will be sedated for the colonoscopy and feel no pain.

Sometimes the only sure way to know what is causing a blockage is by surgery.

Treatments for Large Bowel Obstructions

A bowel obstruction is a dangerous complication for a person with colon cancer. One with this condition will be hospitalized.

Since your bowel cannot evacuate waste, you will not be permitted to eat or drink. You will have an IV drip to replace fluids in your body. A flexible lubricated tube may be passed down into your stomach through your nose to remove intestinal gas. Medicines to help control symptoms are a possibility.

If you continue to have symptoms, surgery might be needed to remove the tumor and maybe a portion of your bowel. This is major surgery and you will need to think carefully before you agree.

If you are confused about your treatment options, tell your doctor and ask her to explain them clearly for you. It may be helpful to have family members or friends with you when you talk to the doctor. Whatever treatment you choose, discuss it first with your family or friends to make sure you understand what you decide.

Written by Darlene Guetre - 4/26/09

Back to top