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 examination. The results are: sigmoid colon is tortuous and redundant, with poor barium excretion function. Could you please advise on how to solve 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 cause fatigue-related damage. If the sac-like structure 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 a deficiency of myenteric ganglia, appearing sparse, and the intestinal muscle also exhibits degeneration. Patients can frequently perform knee-chest exercises to strengthen mesenteric tension, reduce angulation, and facilitate defecation. In severe cases, partial resection may be necessary.The coiling of the sigmoid colon can be confirmed through barium enema and defecography. In some cases, the sigmoid colon may coil once, twice, but the most common is four coils. Intestinal coiling increases the resistance to defecation. Since straining during defecation exerts downward abdominal pressure in a vertical direction, while coiled intestines can form multiple angles, defecation becomes even more difficult.