In patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) where medical management is not successful, surgical resection (pan-proctocolectomy) may offer a chance of cure. Those patients wishing to avoid a permanent stoma may be considered for an ileoanal pouch. However, this procedure is only offered in the elective setting.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (UC and Crohn’s disease) frequently present in surgical practice. Elective indications for surgery in UC include disease that requires maximal therapy or prolonged courses of steroids.

Long-standing UC is associated with a risk of malignant transformation. Dysplastic transformation of the colonic epithelium with associated mass lesions is an absolute indication for a proctocolectomy. Restorative options in UC include an ileoanal pouch. Complications of such a pouch include anastomotic dehiscence, pouchitis, and poor physiological function with seepage and soiling.
.
Emergency presentation of poorly-controlled colitis that fails to respond to medical therapy should usually be managed with a subtotal colectomy. Excision of the rectum is a procedure with a higher morbidity and is not generally performed in the emergency setting.

The patient has Haemorrhoid Disease
A total of 40% of individuals with haemorrhoids are asymptomatic.
For internal haemorrhoids, bleeding is the most commonly reported symptom. The occurrence of bleeding is usually associated with defecation and almost always painless. The blood is bright red and coats the stool at the end of defection.
Another frequent symptom is the sensation of tissue prolapse. Prolapsed internal haemorrhoids may accompany mild faecal incontinence, mucus discharge, a sensation of perianal fullness, and irritation of perianal skin. Pain is significantly less common with internal haemorrhoids than with external haemorrhoids but can occur in the setting of prolapsed, strangulated internal haemorrhoids that develop gangrenous changes due to the associated ischemia.
In contrast, external haemorrhoids are more likely to be associated with pain, due to activation of perianal innervations associated with thrombosis. Patients typically describe a painful perianal mass that is tender to palpation. This painful mass may be initially increasing in size and severity over time. Bleeding can also occur if ulceration develops from necrosis of the thrombosed haemorrhoid, and this blood tends to be darker and more clotted than the bleeding from the internal disease. Painless external skin tags often result from previous oedematous or thrombosed external haemorrhoids.

Lifestyle and dietary modification are the mainstays of conservative medical treatment of haemorrhoid disease. Specifically, lifestyle modifications should include increasing oral fluid intake, reducing fat consumptions, avoiding straining, and regular exercise. Diet recommendations should include increasing fibre intake, which decreases the shearing action of passing a hard stool.
Most patients with grade I and II and select patients with grade III internal hemorrhoidal disease who fail medical treatment can be effectively treated with office-based procedures.
For internal haemorrhoids, rubber band ligation, sclerotherapy, and infrared coagulation are the most common procedures but there is no consensus on optimal treatment. Overall, the goals of each procedure are to decrease vascularity, reduce redundant tissue, and increase hemorrhoidal rectal wall fixation to minimize prolapse.
Rubber band ligation is the most commonly performed procedure in the office and is indicated for grade II and III internal haemorrhoids.

Since the most likely diagnosis is anal fissure, the correct treatment is topical nitrates.

Anal fissures are a common cause of painful, bright red rectal bleeding. Most fissures are idiopathic and present as a painful mucocutaneous defect in the posterior midline (90% cases). Fissures are more likely to be anteriorly located in females, particularly if they are multiparous. Diseases associated with fissure-in-ano include:
1. Crohn’s disease
2. Tuberculosis
3. Internal rectal prolapse

Diagnostic options are as follows:
In most cases, the defect can be visualised as a posterior midline epithelial defect. Where symptoms are highly suggestive of the condition and examination findings are unclear, an examination under anaesthesia may be helpful. Atypical disease presentation should be investigated by colonoscopy and EUA, with biopsies of the area.

For management of anal fissure:
1. Stool softeners are important as hard stools may tear the epithelium and result in recurrent symptoms. The most effective first-line agents are topically applied GTN (0.2%) or Diltiazem (2%) paste.
2. Resistant cases may benefit from injection of botulinum toxin or lateral internal sphincterotomy. Advancement flaps may be used to treat resistant cases.

Subtotal colectomy with ileostomy remains a safe and effective treatment for patients requiring urgent surgery for severe inflammatory bowel disease. As the patient is not hemodynamically stable, any anastomosis like ileorectal or ileoanal should not be done. The patient should be fully resuscitated and given antibiotics and thromboprophylaxis preoperatively.

An anal fissure is a painful linear tear or crack in the distal anal canal, which, in the short term, usually involves only the epithelium and, in the long term, involves the full thickness of the anal mucosa. Typically, the patient reports severe pain during a bowel movement, with the pain lasting several minutes to hours afterward. The pain recurs with every bowel movement, and the patient commonly becomes afraid or unwilling to have a bowel movement, leading to a cycle of worsening constipation, harder stools, and more anal pain. Approximately 70% of patients note bright-red blood on the toilet paper or stool. Occasionally, a few drops may fall in the toilet bowl, but significant bleeding does not usually occur with an anal fissure.
Second-line medical therapy consists of intra-anal application of 0.4% nitro-glycerine (NTG; also called glycerol trinitrate) ointment directly to the internal sphincter. Nitro-glycerine rectal ointment is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for moderate-to-severe pain associated with anal fissures and may be considered when conservative therapies have failed.

Typical pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) occurs in the natal cleft i.e. sacrococcygeal region.
However, some occupation related pilonidal sinuses occurs in webs of fingers e.g. hairdresser, sheep shearer, dog groomer, slaughterman or milker.
Other locations where pilonidal sinuses may occur include penis shaft, axilla, intermammary area, groin, nose, neck, clitoris, suprapubic area, occiput, prepuce, chin, periungual region, breast, face and umbilicus.

Although the pilonidal disease may manifest as an abscess, a pilonidal sinus, a recurrent or chronic pilonidal sinus, or a perianal pilonidal sinus, the most common manifestation of pilonidal disease is a painful, fluctuant mass in the sacrococcygeal region.
Initially, 50% of patients first present with a pilonidal abscess that is cephalad to the hair follicle and sinus infection. Pain and purulent discharge from the sinus tract is present 70-80% of the time and are the two most frequently described symptoms. In the early stages preceding the development of an abscess, only cellulitis or folliculitis is present. The abscess is formed when a folliculitis expands into the subcutaneous tissue or when a pre-existing foreign body granuloma becomes infected.
The diagnosis of a pilonidal sinus can be made by identifying the epithelialized follicle opening, which can be palpated as an area of deep induration beneath the skin in the sacral region. These tracts most commonly run in the cephalad direction. When the tract runs in the caudal direction, perianal sepsis may be present.

The ideal treatment for a pilonidal sinus varies according to the clinical presentation of the disease. First, it is important to divide the pilonidal disease into the following three categories, which represent different stages of the clinical course:
– Acute pilonidal abscess
– Chronic pilonidal disease
– Complex or recurrent pilonidal disease

Acute pilonidal abscess:
A pilonidal abscess is managed by incision, drainage, and curettage of the abscess cavity to remove hair nests and skin debris. This can be accomplished in the surgical office or the emergency department, using local anaesthesia.
If possible, the drainage incision should be made laterally, away from the midline. Wounds heal poorly in the deep, intergluteal natal cleft, for two reasons. The first is the frictional motion of the deep cleft, which creates continuous irritation to the healing wound; the second is the midline nature of the wound, which is a product of constant lateral traction during sitting.

Chronic pilonidal disease is the term applied when patients have undergone at least one pilonidal abscess drainage procedure and continue to have a pilonidal sinus tract. The term also refers to a pilonidal sinus that is associated with a chronic discharge without an acute abscess. Surgical options for management of a noncomplicated chronic pilonidal sinus include the following:
Excision and laying open of the sinus tract
Excision with primary closure
Wide and deep excision to the sacrum
Incision and marsupialization
Bascom procedure
Asymmetrical incisions
Skin flaps have also been described to cover a sacral defect after wide excision. Similarly, this keeps the scar off the midline and flattens the natal cleft.

Proctalgia fugax or functional recurrent anorectal pain is part of a spectrum of functional gastrointestinal disorders defined by the Rome III diagnostic criteria as episodes of sharp fleeting pain that recur over weeks, are localized to the anus or lower rectum, and last from seconds to several minutes with no pain between episodes. There is no diurnal variation. There are numerous precipitants including sexual activity, stress, constipation, defecation and menstruation, although the condition can occur without a trigger. It should be differentiated from chronic proctalgia, a functional anorectal pain disorder with a vague, dull ache or pressure sensation high in the rectum, often worse when sitting than when standing or lying down, and lasts at least 20 minutes.
Most treatments for proctalgia fugax (e.g., oral diltiazem, topical glyceryl nitrate, nerve blocks) act by relaxing the anal sphincter spasm, but the effectiveness of these treatments are supported only by case reports or case series, with the exception of a single randomized controlled trial of salbutamol, making the value of most treatment options, including salbutamol, difficult to judge.

Painful, bright red rectal bleeding is usually due to a fissure. Presence of pain and the sentinel tag suggests a posterior fissure-in-ano.

Anal fissures are a common cause of painful, bright red, rectal bleeding. Most fissures are idiopathic and present as a painful mucocutaneous defect in the posterior midline (90% cases). Fissures are more likely to be anteriorly located in females, particularly if they are multiparous. Diseases associated with fissure-in-ano include:
1. Crohn’s disease
2. Tuberculosis
3. Internal rectal prolapse

Diagnosis:
In most cases, the defect can be visualised as a posterior midline epithelial defect. Where symptoms are highly suggestive of the condition and examination findings are unclear, an examination under anaesthesia may be helpful. Atypical disease presentation should be investigated with colonoscopy and EUA with biopsies of the area.

Treatment:
1. Stool softeners are important as hard stools may tear the epithelium and result in recurrent symptoms. The most effective first-line agents are topically applied GTN (0.2%) or Diltiazem (2%) paste. Side effects of diltiazem are better tolerated.
2. Resistant cases may benefit from injection of botulinum toxin or lateral internal sphincterotomy. Advancement flaps may be used to treat resistant cases.

The operation aims to remove most of your large bowel including the blood supply and associated lymph glands and leave the rectum behind. It is most commonly recommended for inflammatory bowel disease like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

It is also recommended for other bowel conditions like familial adenomatous polyposis, and when there is more than one bowel cancer.

In inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis the small bowel is brought out to the skin of the tummy as an ileostomy and the remaining bowel (rectum) is closed off and left inside. In other conditions where possible, the two ends of the remaining healthy bowel (small bowel to rectum) are re-joined (an anastomosis). Most
people therefore do not require a stoma. However some people benefit from having a stoma made depending on circumstances regarding:
1) Their general state of health (heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, vascular disease, smoking, steroid medications, being undernourished);
2) Factors which cannot be seen until the surgeon can see inside your tummy (more extensive disease than originally thought, extensive pelvic scarring from previous surgery or other treatment, excessive bleeding).
Temporary stomas are made to divert faeces away from the join (de-functioning) to give the best chance to heal if there is concern it may be slow to heal.

Emergency indications for surgical intervention in severe UC include free perforation, haemorrhage or systemic instability. An urgent indication for colectomy is a severe attack that is unresponsive to medical therapy.

In the setting of severe UC, the procedure of choice is subtotal colectomy and ileostomy. The residual rectal disease is controllable in most patients. In general, there are advantages to the subtotal colectomy approach, including a lower morbidity if pelvic dissection is not performed, preservation of the rectum so that reconstructive procedures can be performed later, and allowing the definitive procedure to be deferred to an optimal situation when the patient is off immunosuppressive medications and has improved nutritional status. Usually, the staged reconstruction with IPAA or definitive total proctocolectomy is performed several months later.

Proctectomy with end stoma is the best operative strategy in severe perianal and/or rectal Crohn’s disease.

Surgical resection of Crohn’s disease does not provide a complete cure but it may produce substantial symptomatic improvement. Indications for surgery include complications such as fistulae, abscess formation, and strictures.

Colonoscopy and a small bowel study (e.g. MR enteroclysis imaging) are used to stage Crohn’s disease to facilitate decision-making regarding surgery.
Complex perianal fistulae are best managed with long-term draining seton sutures. Severe perianal and/or rectal Crohn’s disease usually require proctectomy with formation of end stoma. Ileoanal pouch reconstruction carries a high risk of fistula formation and pouch failure and is, therefore, not recommended. Terminal ileal Crohn’s remains one of the most common form of the disease, and it may be treated with limited ileocaecal resections.

Proctalgia fugax (PF) is a benign painful rectal condition that is defined as intermittent, recurring, and self-limiting pain in the anorectal region in the absence of organic pathology. The pain of proctalgia fugax is sharp or gripping and severe. Similar to other urogenital focal pain syndromes, such as vulvodynia and proctodynia, the causes remain obscure. Stress and sitting for prolonged periods often increase the frequency and intensity of attacks of proctalgia fugax. Patients often feel an urge to defecate with the onset of the paroxysms of pain . Depression often accompanies the pain of proctalgia fugax but is not thought to be the primary cause. The symptoms of proctalgia fugax can be so severe as to limit the patient’s ability to perform activities of daily living. Reassurance has proven to help in many cases as the condition has been linked to stress.

An anal fistula is an abnormal tract between the anal canal and the skin around the anus.
Anal fistulas can be classified according to their relationship with the external sphincter. A fistula may be complex, with several openings onto the perianal skin. Intersphincteric fistulas are the most common type and cross only the internal anal sphincter. Trans-sphincteric fistulas pass through both the internal and external sphincters.

The aim is to drain the infected material and encourage healing.
For simple intersphincteric and low trans-sphincteric anal fistulas, the most common treatment is a fistulotomy or laying open of the fistula tract.
For high and complex (deeper) fistulas that involve more muscle, with a high risk of faecal incontinence or recurrence, surgery aims to treat the fistula and preserve sphincter-muscle function. Techniques include a 1‑stage or 2‑stage seton (suture material or rubber sling) either alone or in combination with fistulotomy, ligation of an intersphincteric fistula tract, creating a mucosal advancement flap, injecting glue or paste, or inserting a fistula plug .

An Anal fissure is a cut or a tear in the anal canal typically caused by passing a hard stool. Patients often complain of severe anal pain and bleeding with bowel movements. On physical examination, you may see the fissure or just the sentinel tag. If the examination appears normal, you can elicit point tenderness. We recommend against continuing the digital rectal examination or anoscopy if the patient is having pain during the examination.
The primary goals of therapy are to properly bulk the stool with adequate fibre and relax the anal muscle. Specific steps include the following:
Properly bulk the stool with adequate fibre to minimize constipation and diarrhoea; both frequent bowel movements and hard bowel movements can lead to an anal fissure.
Temporary use of laxatives such as daily Miralax or senna. The dose of Miralax can be titrated up or down to achieve desired results. As the patient’s fibre supplementation increases, the need for Miralax will diminish.
Chronic use of laxatives should be avoided because it can lead to worsening colonic function and constipation.
Diltiazem 2% ointment is to be placed on the anal muscle 3 times daily—continue for a minimum of 8 weeks, even if symptoms improve earlier.
If a patient cannot tolerate diltiazem or is breastfeeding or pregnant, 0.2% nitroglycerin-compounded ointment can be prescribed. However, the proper dose of nitroglycerin is important as too high of a dose can cause severe headaches.
Do NOT prescribe haemorrhoid ointments or suppositories, especially steroid-based ones. Steroid ointments do not help. They do cause perianal skin thinning and dermatitis. At best, they act as a placebo, but they often are used chronically and cause unpleasant perianal skin changes.
Use mental anal muscle relaxation: Actively thinking about relaxing sphincter tone.
Consider sitz baths: Soaking the anal area in warm water induces relaxation. Warmer water induces more relaxation. No additives are needed.
Surgical intervention (such as Botox injections or sphincterotomy) is considered for patients whose symptoms do not improve with the above management strategies. It is imperative that the patient increases fibre and water intake so bowel movements are very soft before the surgical intervention to maximize chances of postoperative healing.

Fistulotomy could achieve good results in terms of wound healing and incontinence in strictly selected patients with Crohn’s disease suffering from low-lying trans-sphincteric fistulae. For more high-lying or complicated fistulae, seton placement is more appropriate. For high transsphincteric fistulae, the only option is placement of loose seton.
Fistulae are classified into four main groups according to anatomical location and the degree of sphincter involvement. Simple uncomplicated fistulae are low and do not involve more than 30% of the external sphincter. Complex fistulae involve the sphincter, have multiple branches or are non cryptoglandular in origin

Treatment of Crohn’s disease is based on the disease site, pattern, activity, and severity. The general goals of treatment for Crohn’s disease are as follows:
To achieve the best possible clinical, laboratory, and histologic control of the inflammatory disease with the least adverse effects from medication.
To permit the patient to function as normally as possible.
Therapy for mild Crohn’s disease is typically administered in a sequential “step-up” approach, in which less aggressive and less toxic treatments are initiated first, followed by more potent medications or procedures if the initial therapy fails.
Patients are treated with preparations of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), antibiotics, and nutritional therapy. However, the use of 5-ASA for the treatment of Crohn’s disease is controversial; only a small subset of patients may benefit from this agent. Although 5-ASA is effective for reducing disease activity in active Crohn’s disease, it typically has a lower efficacy for Crohn’s disease than for ulcerative colitis, and its efficacy for maintenance of remission remains unproven.

If no response occurs or if the disease is more severe than initially thought, corticosteroids and inhibitors of DNA synthesis (i.e., immunomodulators) with 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP)/azathioprine or methotrexate are administered. Finally, biologic agents (infliximab, adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, and natalizumab) and surgical therapies can be useful.

For the treatment of moderate to severe Crohn’s disease, current recommendations include the “top-down” approach, which differs from the conventional step-up approach in that more potent agents are administered initially. Top-down therapies include biologic agents and steroids as needed versus combination therapy with both biologic drugs and immunomodulatory agents.

Azathioprine or 6-MP is effective for maintenance of remission in Crohn’s disease; each is effective for avoiding surgery and for preventing postoperative and endoscopic relapse. Both agents can be used in combination with infliximab.

If medical therapy for active Crohn’s disease fails, surgical resection of the inflamed bowel, with the restoration of continuity, is indicated.

Recommended indications for surgical intervention include the following:
Failed medical therapy
Persistent symptoms despite high-dose corticosteroid therapy
Treatment-related complications, including intra-abdominal abscesses
Medically intractable fistulae
Fibrotic strictures with obstructive symptoms
Toxic megacolon
Intractable haemorrhage
Perforation
Cancer

For Rectal Crohn’s: Proctectomy is appropriate, and in published series, it is required in 10 to 20% of cases. Unfortunately, proctectomy can be complicated by poor wound healing and perineal sinus formation in up to 25 to 50% of patients. A gracillis flap can be helpful.

Severe abdominal pain tends to favour infection with Campylobacter jejuni.

Infection with Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of gastroenteritis worldwide. In developed countries, the incidence of Campylobacter jejuni infections peaks during infancy and, again, during early adulthood. Most infections are acquired by the consumption and handling of poultry. A typical case is characterized by diarrhoea, fever, and severe abdominal cramps. Obtaining cultures of the organism from stool samples remains the best way to diagnose this infection. Complications of C. jejuni infections are rare, and most patients do not require antibiotics. Careful food preparation and cooking practices may prevent some Campylobacter infections.

Open right hemicolectomy (open right colectomy) is a procedure that involves removing the caecum, the ascending colon, the hepatic flexure (where the ascending colon joins the transverse colon), the first third of the transverse colon, and part of the terminal ileum, along with fat and lymph nodes. It is the standard surgical treatment for malignant neoplasms of the right colon; the effectiveness of other techniques are measured by the effectiveness of this technique.

The caecum is a short, pouch-like region of the large intestine between the ascending colon and vermiform appendix. It is located in the lower right quadrant of the abdominal cavity, inferior and lateral to the ileum.

Melanosis coli may have occurred as a result of laxative abuse in this patient.

Melanosis coli, also pseudomelanosis coli, is a disorder of pigmentation of the wall of the colon, often identified at the time of colonoscopy. It is benign, and may have no significant correlation with the disease. The brown pigment seen is lipofuscin in macrophages, not melanin.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), chronic diarrhoea is defined as lasting for more than 14 days. It is very common in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Patients may be divided into those with diarrhoea-predominant IBS and those with constipation-predominant IBS. Along with diarrhoea/constipation, clinical features such as abdominal pain, bloating, weight loss, change in bowel habit, lethargy, nausea, backache, and bladder symptoms are also seen. Bloody diarrhoea is more common in ulcerative colitis than in Crohn’s disease.

Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome is a rare disorder that involves straining during defecation, a sense of incomplete evacuation, and sometimes passage of blood and mucus by rectum.
The syndrome is poorly named because associated lesions may be solitary or multiple and ulcerated or nonulcerated; they range from mucosal erythema to ulcers to small mass lesions.
Lesions are typically located in the anterior rectal wall within 10 cm of the anal verge.
It is probably caused by localized ischemic injury or prolapse of the distal rectal mucosa. Diagnosis is clinical with confirmation by flexible sigmoidoscopy and biopsy. Treatment is a bowel regimen for mild cases, but surgery is sometimes needed if rectal prolapse is the cause.

The cardinal symptom of Fissure in ano is pain.

Carcinoid tumours are of neuroendocrine origin and derived from primitive stem cells in the gut wall, especially the appendix.
Signs and symptoms of carcinoid tumours vary greatly. Carcinoid tumours can be non-functioning presenting as a tumour mass or functioning. The sign and symptoms of a non-functioning tumour depend on the tumour location and size as well as on the presence of metastases. Therefore, findings range from no tumour-related symptoms (most carcinoid tumours) to full symptoms of carcinoid syndrome (primarily in adults).
– Periodic abdominal pain: Most common presentation for a small intestinal carcinoid; often associated with malignant carcinoid syndrome
– Cutaneous flushing: Early and frequent (94%) symptom
– Diarrhoea and malabsorption (84%)
– Cardiac manifestations (60%): Valvular heart lesions, fibrosis of the endocardium; may lead to heart failure with tachycardia and hypertension
– Wheezing or asthma-like syndrome (25%)
– Pellagra
– Carcinoid crisis can be the most serious symptom of carcinoid tumours and can be life-threatening. It can occur suddenly, after stress, or following chemotherapy and anaesthesia.

Two surgical procedures can be applied to treat appendiceal Neuroendocrine Neoplasm (NEN): simple appendicectomy and oncological right-sided hemicolectomy.
– For T1 (ENETS) or T1a (UICC/AJCC) NEN (i.e. <1 cm), generally simple appendicectomy is curative and sufficient.
– For NEN >2 cm with a T3 stage (ENETS) or higher and T2 (UICC/AJCC) or higher respectively, a right-sided hemicolectomy is advised due to the increased risk of lymph node metastasis and long-term tumour recurrence and/or distant metastasis. The right-sided hemico- lectomy should be performed either as the initial surgical intervention should the problem be overt at that time, or during a second intervention.