Small intestine

Personally performed operations (as of 2018) : 979
Total of performed visceral operations: over 14.000

Surgery of the small intestine is often necessary because of so-called intestinal obstruction. This is often a result of previous surgery or inflammation in the abdominal cavity, causing adhesions. Mostly it is enough to remove the bent or constricted part of the small intestine and connect the healthy segments.
However, there are rare tumors of the small intestine, e.g. so-called carcinoids or the GIST, which require a resection on a larger scale. In senior people, parts of the small intestine can have such circulatory problems, that they die off and cause a peritonitis with severe sepsis (blood poisoning).

Possible complications

Connecting the healthy segments between the removed part of the small intestine, in rare cases a leakage can occur. Its probability lies between 1 and 2 percent, yet it can be higher, if the operation was caused by circulatory malfunction. A shortening of the small intestine usually remains without essential consequences. It is however important, that a minimum of 2 metres remains, so as to avoid nutritional deficits. Occasionally, to ensure the survival of a patients, this cannot be guaranteed. In that case, additional nutrition has to be ensured through the blood. Those cases are very rare.