# Is a redundant sigmoid colon a contributor to IBS-C



## shell69 (Sep 15, 2010)

Hi, Whilst having a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy done ( to eliminate any gynae problems) the surgeon noticed I have a long loop of redundant sigmoid colon, could this be a contributary factor to IBS -C ?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Hard to know as a fair number of people with no problems at all also have a redundant colon.It probably doesn't help as the longer the colon the more likely you are to pull a bit too much water out of the stool making it harder to pass.


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## salvationishere2 (Jul 1, 2009)

shell69 said:


> Hi, Whilst having a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy done ( to eliminate any gynae problems) the surgeon noticed I have a long loop of redundant sigmoid colon, could this be a contributary factor to IBS -C ?


This probably contributes to your problems as it did mine, but after I had this same surgery done, I still had my food allergy problems. You can read more about my health profile for more info on other problems.


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## shell69 (Sep 15, 2010)

salvationishere2 said:


> This probably contributes to your problems as it did mine, but after I had this same surgery done, I still had my food allergy problems. You can read more about my health profile for more info on other problems.


Was anything done about your sigmoid colon or has it just been left?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I've never heard of them treating it any different than IBS-C in people with normal length colons.Removing a small amount of healthy colon may cause more problems than it solves as sometimes the scar tissue and adhesions are no better than what they removed. And there is no guarantee the only slow spot is in the redundant section, so the whole rest of the colon could be the problem rather than the loop and no good way to test for that.If you have 2-3 bowel movements a month (rather than 2-3 a week) then you need to be tested for slow transit constipation, but that is remove the whole colon, not just a redundant loop of it when it gets bad enough to need surgery (and they usually try to avoid surgery as there is still the scar tissue issues).


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## salvationishere2 (Jul 1, 2009)

Actually the name of my surgery was: (Perineal Rectosigmoidectomy) Sigmoid Colectomy and Ripstein Procedure Surgery. This is a fairly common surgery. Removing a small amount of even a healthy colon in a normal person would be bad. But in my case my colon was too long and this contributed to my problems. Don't worry about scar tissue/adhesions if you go to a good doctor. I am feeling much better now after the surgery one year ago. But if you haven't had the rest of your colon and your intestines checked, I would recommend checking those also.For optimal BM's/month, there really is no "optimal". Every person is different. But if you have SIBO, then I advise attempting more than 2-3/month. If you cannot do this naturally, try taking 1 Gas-X after every meal and a stool softener 2-3 times/week.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Well 3 times a week is the outside edge of normal. (from 3 a day to 3 a week is normal range)People who fail the sitz marker test for colon motility generally fall in the less than once a week range. So 2 or 3 times a month is generally clinically relevant.


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