Colorectal Disease
Providing care when you need it most
Lee Health provides leading-edge medical and surgical treatments for a wide variety of troublesome and even life-threatening colorectal conditions. We believe that each patient is unique, so we work with you to explain procedures and answer all of your questions along the way.
The complex digestive system requires extensive experience and sensitivity. Our staff can help you with common conditions such as chronic constipation, colitis, Crohn’s disease, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome.
We also offer advanced diagnostic and treatment options for complex conditions such as colon cancer.
Our team also offers ongoing screening and genetic counseling services for people with hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes.
Colorectal disease diagnosis and screening
Lee Health gastroenterologists use a variety of tests and procedures to screen for and diagnose colorectal disease, including one or more of the following:
- Colonoscopy: An exam that allows doctors to see inside the colon and rectum using a camera attached to a thin, flexible tube (called a colonoscope). Colonoscopy allows doctors to examine the entire colon.
- Sigmoidoscopy: Also known as flexible sigmoidoscopy, this test is similar to a colonoscopy — both are used to screen for or diagnose various types of colorectal disease, using a camera attached to a colonoscope. Sigmoidoscopy only looks at the last portion of the colon closest to the rectum, called the sigmoid colon. Learn more about the differences between colonoscopy and a sigmoidoscopy.
- Endoscopic ultrasound or EUS is a procedure that combines endoscopy and ultrasound to capture high quality images of the digestive tract. It’s often used to help diagnose colon cancer.
- Capsule endoscopy is a procedure that uses a tiny camera, which is placed inside a pill-sized capsule and swallowed, to take pictures of the gastrointestinal tract. The images are recorded on a device worn around the waist.
- Anal manometry is a test used to evaluate how well the muscles in the anus and rectum are working. It’s frequently used to diagnose fecal incontinence or chronic constipation.
Colorectal disease treatment at Lee Health
Lee Health offers a variety of medical and surgical treatment options for colorectal disease, including:
- Endoscopic mucosal resection is a procedure that removes abnormal or cancerous tissue from the gastrointestinal tract, including the colon.
- Bowel resection is a surgical procedure that removes a diseased portion of the colon or rectum. Sometimes the remaining portions of the colon and rectum cannot be reattached; when this occurs, the surgeon also performs a colostomy. During a colostomy, a surgeon creates an artificial opening on the outside of the body, called a stoma, for feces to pass through.
- Ileoanal anastomosis surgery, also known as J-pouch surgery, is typically used to treat ulcerative colitis. It allows patients who have had their colon and rectum removed to continue to pass stool normally, without the need for a colostomy.
- Drug therapy is primarily used to manage inflammatory bowel disease. There are several different types of medication available. These include anti-inflammatories, immune system modulators, antibiotics and probiotics.
- Hemorrhoid surgery also known as hemorrhoidectomy, may be used to remove hemorrhoids that have not responded to previous treatments, including topical medication and dietary changes.
- Pelvic floor physical therapy is an effective non-surgical option for people with fecal incontinence, chronic constipation or rectal pain.
- EGD (Esophagogastroduodenoscopy): This is an endocscopy—an outpatient procedure where your doctor can examine your esophogas, stomach, and duodenum. The test can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to perform, and it’s perfect for evaluating abdominal pain, heartburn, persistent nausea or vomiting, bleeding, bloody stool, andmore.
- ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography): This procedure is a combination of an endoscopy and X-rays to examine bile and pancreatic ducts. This can be helpful in examining and treating gallstones, pancreatitis, or tumors and other disorders.
- EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasonography): This procedure uses an endoscopic tube along with high frequency soundwaves to take pictures of your digestive tract and nearby organs.
- Pancreatic / biliary stents & intraluminal stents: These thin tubes help hold a bile duct open so fluid can easily pass between the liver, the pancreas, and the intestine.
- High Resolution Esophageal Manometry study: This cutting-edge technique helps test how your esophagus is working by using a thin tube that measures pressure when you are resting and when you swallow.
- Pill Cam evaluation of small bowel lesions/pathology: This is a pill-sized camera that you swallow so a doctor can examining the lining of your gastrointestinal tract.
- Small bowel push endoscopy: This procedure is nearly the same as the standard endoscopy but goes further into the small intestine with the help of a special overtube. The test is useful for treating problems in the small intestine – especially identifying and stopping bleeding.
- Small bowel single balloon endoscopic evaluation: This procedure uses a special balloon system to extend a camera through the esophagus, stomach, and deep small intestine.