Small Intestine Disorders—Colonic Diseases

Also called: Large intestine diseases

Your colon, also known as the large intestine, is part of your digestive system. It’s a long, hollow tube at the end of your digestive tract where your body makes and stores stool. Many disorders affect the colon’s ability to work properly. Some of these include

• Colorectal cancer
• Colonic polyps – extra tissue growing in the colon that can become cancerous
• Ulcerative colitis – ulcers of the colon and rectum
• Diverticulitis – inflammation or infection of pouches in the colon
• Irritable bowel syndrome – an uncomfortable condition causing abdominal cramping and other symptoms

Treatment for colonic diseases varies greatly depending on the disease and its severity. Treatment may involve diet, medicines and in some cases, surgery.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

• Angiodysplasia of the colon (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Colitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Colonoscopy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hirschsprung disease (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Intestinal ischemia and infarction (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Large bowel resection (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Lower GI Series – NIH (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Your small intestine is the longest part of your digestive system – about twenty feet long! It connects your stomach to your large intestine (or colon) and folds many times to fit inside your abdomen. Your small intestine does most of the digesting of the foods you eat. It has three areas called the duodenum, the ileum, and the jejunum.

Problems with the small intestine can include:

• Bleeding
• Celiac disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Infections
• Intestinal cancer
• Intestinal obstruction
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Ulcers, such as peptic ulcer

Treatment of disorders of the small intestine depends on the cause.

• Duodenal atresia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• EGD – esophagogastroduodenoscopy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• EGD discharge (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Enteritis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Enteroscopy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Meckel’s diverticulectomy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Small bowel bacterial overgrowth (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Small bowel resection (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Upper GI and small bowel series (Medical Encyclopedia)