Patient's question:
Dr. Yu, hello! According to your suggestion, I took my child to the hospital for a check-up: lower gastrointestinal contrast examination, including an enema. The results are: sigmoid colon is tortuous and redundant, with poor barium excretion function. Could you please advise how to address this issue, Dr. Yu? Thank you for your reply!Doctor's answer:
If the sigmoid colon is congenitally elongated, prolapsed, and forms a sharp angle with the rectum, it can lead to progressive excessive peristalsis of the sigmoid colon. Over time, this can result in fatigue-related damage. If the sac-like shape of the sigmoid colon disappears, it can preliminarily indicate the loss of peristaltic function. Surgical specimens confirmed that the dilated, sac-like-absent sigmoid colon often shows multiple missing or sparse interstitial ganglia, with intestinal muscle also exhibiting degeneration.Patients can frequently perform knee-chest exercises to strengthen mesenteric tension, reduce angulation, and facilitate defecation. In severe cases, partial resection may be considered. The coiling of the sigmoid colon can be confirmed through barium enema and defecography. Some sigmoid colons may coil once, twice, but the most common is four coils, leading to increased resistance during defecation. Since straining causes abdominal pressure to act vertically downward, while coiled intestines can form multiple angles, defecation becomes even more difficult.