Experiencing Ileus After Colostomy Reversal Surgery

Looking for anyone who has gone through ilieus post reconnection. And their stories. I am on day 8 post op and have had no gas passed or bowel movements yet. This is the most painful thing I have ever encountered. My belly is like a barrel and full of gas but it is not going anywhere. I got a c t scan done and there is a blockage at the reconnection site. They say it’s most likely swelling. And to wait for it to go down. But what if it does not go down and is just plan blocked.  This pain is worse than the perforation pain from the attacke in March that resulted in the colostomy.  I have had diverticulitis for over 10 years. 

Hello Ceastman.

Sorry to hear about your complications. It seems that almost all these type of operations carry the risk of swelling and blockages. What surprises me is that the medical profession has not come up with some physical solution to the relief of pain from the build-up of gas and faeces while the healing process does its thing. Unfortunately, pain killers can exasserbate the underlying problem, which is probably why they try to get people to be patient and hope that the swelling will go down and allow the blockage to resolve itself.  8days sounds like too long to me and I would be making sure that they arree kept aware of that! These blockages can be dangerous and lead to other complications, so they need to be monitoring it constantly.

Best wishes

Bill