Kinked small bowel causing 3 bowel obstructions in 6 months post ileostomy! Any advise?

Hi all

Any advice out there? I had my ileostomy in August 2012 for repeated bowel obstructions and a rectum which just stopped working. (Total colectomy in 2005 for colonic inertia). I had to have a revision one month later due to muscular sheath being too tight causing repeated hospital admissions for obstructions. Then I proceeded to live a completely normal life with Lily my stoma for 18 months with absolutely no complications. Then all of a sudden I developed an obstruction in Feb this year, and another in June and now another last week. I was hospitalised all three times and had abdominal X-rays and an ileoscopy each time confirming the small bowel obstruction. It appears that the small bowel kinks about 8 cm below the stoma. The surgeon says it's like a concertina and that the small bowel collapses on itself causing a kink and thereby obstructing the output. I was discharged yesterday but am still distended (look about 6 months pregnant and usually have a flat stomach) and still have pain. The surgeon wants to wait for the distension to subside and then readmit me next week and to a laparoscopy to try and unkink the small bowel. If this doesnt' work he will take me back to theatre to revise the stoma site. Problem is the stoma site itself is perfect and I don't want to mess with it. Especially after reading about Rosemary death and knowing how she battled with all her revisions and problems. I certainly don't want to be a statistic!!! I am actually a very positive person but just can't understand why my small bowel would suddenly kink so much. The surgeon also says I have irritable bowel (small bowel).

Any advice out there please?

LollyLouise

Sorry you're going through this. To echo NCOT, it does seem to make sense the small bowel can kink at anytime with all the extra room and no colon holding things in place like it used to be. It can also un-kink itself as well with some rest.

Hopefully everything can be fixed quite easily and there will be no need for a revision or any type of surgery. No use worrying about that until you have to.

Thanks Ryan

It seems that because it has kinked in exactly the same place 3 times, the doctor wants to try and straighten this particular section of small bowel by pulling it taut. BUT, I am definitely going to tell him to leave the actual stoma alone as it is a permanent ileostomy and i'm very happy with it.

I see you had your take down recently. Hope it's going well for you.

Thanks for your reply