Surgery for cancer in the colon

The most common type of surgery for colon cancer is a colectomy.

It may be done as open surgery or keyhole surgery. There are different types of colectomies depending on which part of the colon is removed. Lymph nodes near the colon and some normal bowel around the cancer will also be removed.

The surgeon usually cuts the bowel on either side of the cancer (with a small border of healthy tissue called the margin) and then joins the two ends of the bowel back together. This join is called an anastomosis.

Sometimes one end of the bowel is brought through an opening made in your abdomen and stitched onto the skin. This procedure is called a colostomy (if made from the large bowel) or ileostomy (if made from the small bowel). The opening – called a stoma – allows faeces to be removed from the body and collected in a bag.

The stoma is usually temporary, and the operation is reversed later. In some cases, the stoma is permanent. Advances in surgical techniques have led to fewer people needing a permanent stoma. Learn more about stomas. 

After surgery, you will have a scar. Most people who have open surgery have a scar from above their navel to their pubic area.

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Types of colectomies

* If the transverse colon is also removed, it is called an extended right
or left hemicolectomy.

	Right hemicolectomy The right side of the colon is removed.*
	Left hemicolectomy The left side of the colon is removed.*
	Transverse colectomy The middle part of the colon is removed.
	Sigmoid colectomy The sigmoid colon is removed.
	Subtotal or total colectomy Most or all of the bowel is removed.
	Proctocolectomy All of the colon and rectum are removed.