Colorectal surgery involves the surgical and nonsurgical treatment of conditions affecting the lower digestive tract (small intestine, colon, rectum and anus), including colorectal cancer. When you have colorectal disease that requires surgery, our team will partner with you to help you get well and feel better.

A colonoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that screens your rectum and colon for colon polyps and cancer. During a colonoscopy procedure, your doctor will use a long, flexible tube called a colonoscope. This device has a tiny video camera at the tip that allows your doctor to view the inside of your entire colon. 

Colonoscopies can detect early signs of colon cancer, including colorectal polyps, which can turn into cancer if not removed. The procedure pinpoints changes or abnormalities in the colon and rectum and allows your doctor to remove any polyps before they can turn into cancer. It also gives your doctor information to help diagnose other colorectal conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease.

The procedure typically takes 30 to 60 minutes, and you’ll be able to return to normal activities the next day.

The American Cancer Society recommends most people have regular colonoscopies starting at age 45. However, your family doctor may recommend a colonoscopy sooner if you’re at higher risk of developing cancer. Genetic testing may help you determine your risk, so be sure to share any family history of colorectal cancer or concerning symptoms with your doctor.

Symptoms of later-stage colorectal cancer may include:

• Abdominal cramping or pain
• Blood in the stool
• Change in bowel habits 
• Rectal bleeding 
• Sudden weight loss
• Weakness and fatigue 

Having these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you have colon cancer. But talking to your doctor will help you figure out what’s causing them.

Some factors that increase your risk of colorectal cancer include: 

• Age: The risk of having colorectal cancer increases with age. It’s more common after age 50.
• Being overweight or obese: People who have excess body fat are more likely to develop colorectal cancer even if they have no other risk factors. 
• Diet: Eating a diet high in red and processed meats and low in fiber raises your risk for colorectal cancers.
• Family history: If you have a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, you have an increased risk. In this case, your doctor may recommend that you begin regular screenings early.
• Physical inactivity: Living a sedentary lifestyle increases your risk of developing colorectal cancer. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week may reduce your risk.
• Polyps: While polyps aren’t always cancerous, they can be precancerous. During a colonoscopy, your doctor will look for polyps and remove them to lower your cancer risk.
• Race and ethnicity: African Americans have a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S.
• Smoking: Smoking raises your chances of colorectal cancer.
• Other risk factors: Other risk factors that can increase the risk of colorectal cancer include Type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and inherited syndromes, like Lynch syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis.

When creating a colostomy or ileostomy, your surgeon makes an opening in your abdomen and brings out one end of the large or small intestine. Then your colon or ileum can eliminate waste through the surgically created opening in the intestine (ostomy). If your condition requires a colostomy or ileostomy, our certified ostomy nurses will give you recommendations for navigating daily life so you can get back to your favorite activities.

Whenever possible, your surgeon will do minimally invasive surgery. This means that your surgeon will make smaller incisions, which decreases infection risk and results in less bleeding and shorter recovery. 

In minimally invasive robotic and laparoscopic surgery, your surgeon uses tiny instruments and a camera to remove a portion of your colon or rectum or fix a rectal prolapse without making a traditional large abdominal incision. This allows for smaller surgical incisions, fewer infections, shorter recovery and faster return to your everyday life. Minimally invasive surgery is not for every patient, and your surgeon will discuss all the options with you in detail.

Our surgeons offer many options to solve hemorrhoid symptoms. These may include:

• Lifestyle and diet changes
• Painless hemorrhoid rubber-banding procedure
• Excisional hemorrhoidectomy

We’ll work with you to find the right solution to resolve your symptoms while limiting the impact on your life and work.

The J-pouch procedure creates a pouch from the end of your small intestine connected to the anus where waste can be stored. This acts as a new rectum and restores your control over bowel function if your colon and rectum have been removed. This gets rid of the need for an ostomy. Our surgeons commonly perform this minimally invasive procedure for patients with ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis. 

A rectopexy is a surgical procedure that treats rectal prolapse (when the rectum protrudes through the anus). Through this minimally invasive surgery, your surgeon will restore the rectum to its proper position by securing it to one of the strong ligaments inside your abdomen. If you cannot have abdominal surgery for any reason, our surgeons offer rectal prolapse repair through the anus.  

Sacral nerve stimulation treats incontinence by improving communication between the brain and bowels through an implantable device. It’s used in people who have fecal incontinence to prevent or significantly reduce bowel accidents.