Anterior Resection of Colon and Rectum

So today I'd like to talk about an operation called an anterior resection. The reason why your doctor or surgeon may have told you you need an anterior resection is because you may have cancer of the rectum. And an anterior resection basically means an operation to cut out your rectum and to join the two ends of the colon back together again. There are two ways to do the operation. One is with keyhole and the other is open. Many people do the keyhole operation and may open up towards the end of the operation to make the join. Some potential risks about the operation that your surgeon will go through with you before the operation, but here are a few things to consider. Anyone having an operation is potentially at risk of having bleeding and so on the day of the operation or before you will have a blood test done so that your blood type is known to the team in case you need a transfusion. There is a chance of infection and therefore you're most likely going to be given antibiotics in the days after the operation. One of the things that the surgeon worries about is the join that is made after the rectum is cut out. And therefore, if they are uncertain of whether the join has tension or might have too much tension, for example, it may be that they give you a temporary stoma, which means that you may have to wear a bag after the operation.