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Other risk factors include polyps on the wall of the colon or rectum and ulcerative colitis. If you have had either of these conditions, you will most likely develop colon cancer later on. People who have IBD, or Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or Crohn's Disease are also at high risk.
As with any other illness or disease, it is ideal to prevent it instead of waiting to do anything until you actually have it. Prevention is easier than curing a problem. The first step in prevention is to get regular screenings. In many cases, the only sign of colon cancer is polyps that are in the colon. Finding and removing these polyps early helps to prevent full blown colon cancer.
You may also need to make dietary changes. Lower your intake of fat and calories, as well as your intake of meats and alcohol. You should increase the amount of exercise you do as well. Experts also recommend that you stop smoking, and use dietary supplements to ensure that you are getting enough minerals and nutrients.
You should get five servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, calcium, and folic acid each day. It is important to maintain a healthy weight as well. The use of baby aspirin each day is also recommended.
Another good way to prevent colon cancer is to cleanse your colon annually. This can now be done in a gentle manner, with the use of oral products.
Annual colon cleansing, increasing your water intake, and making dietary changes will all help to prevent colon cancer. However, you should also get regular screenings to make sure that no polyps have developed. When colon cancer is detected early, it is the most curable form of cancer that there is.
The management of obstructing or perforated colon cancer presents unique considerations.When patients present with urgent evidence of obstruction without the opportunity to prepare the bowel, they must be expediently resuscitated and undergo immediate surgical exploration. If the obstruction is due to a proximal lesion near the ileocecal valve, a right hemicolectomy with primary anastomosis may be performed safely in most cases, even with an unprepared colon. More distal obstructions are problematic because the proximal colon is dilated and typically full of stool.
Once the involved segment of colon is resected, ontable lavage can be performed. This involves mobilization of the colon, attachment of large bore sterile tubing to drain the effluent, and instillation of a large volume of warm saline through a catheter placed through an appendicostomy
or the terminal ileum. The distal segment of bowel can be washed out from below. This technique can allow for a primary anastomosis in some cases provided the bowel is not dilated and appears relatively healthy.
Perforations at the tumor site can present either as locally contained abscesses or as free perforation with peritonitis. In addition, obstructing tumors can result in
colonic perforation, typically proximal to the tumor or at the cecum. In the case of contained perforations, abscesses can be drained percutaneously with subsequent investigations
and elective surgical management. Free perforation with peritonitis is a surgical emergency that necessitates rapid resuscitation and operation. In the setting of gross fecal contamination, resection of the tumor and perforation are performed when possible with a proximal colostomy or ileostomy (Hartmann's procedure). In some cases, a primary anastomosis can be performed with a protecting proximal ostomy. An unprotected anastomosis without diversion is ill advised in these unstable patients.