Hi everyone,
Going on four years with a repeat stricture. Original surgeon said it is from repeat inflammation (disease at connection), current surgeon (who has only performed finger exam into anastomosis) and GI (who has scoped me several times) feels it is scar tissue. I do have ongoing low level inflammation in the cuff, but I feel if my issues were directly related to scar tissue I would have my symptoms constantly and I do not.
Symptoms are.....inability to empty pouch in one sitting (repeat trips close together to empty), straining, bouts of pouchitis due to fecal stasis, never feeling fully empty, repeat night waking w bathroom visits, anal fissures from straining.
Has anyone lost their pouch due to a stricture or do you continue to get dilations under anesthesia or go for a transanal surgery. My surgical options at this time are putting small cuts around the anastomosis or cutting out the scar tissue (only on one side of connection) and re-stapling pouch. Is it possible to do the latter without dropping the pouch as the surgeon I am seeing now indicates he can do this. All I can think of is more scar tissue creation after any of these procedures. I have never had a balloon dilation, just repeat finger dilations under anesthesia.
Anyone have any experience with going through this and keeping their pouch?
