Children who have certain intestinal conditions may not be able to remove stool (poop) from their body in the usual way. Your child may need J-pouch surgery after all or parts of their colon (large intestine) and rectum have been removed due to ulcerative colitis (UC) or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).
Instead of needing a long-term opening in their abdomen (called a stoma) to remove stool, a J-pouch surgery allows your child to get rid of stool in the usual way. During J-pouch surgery, the surgeon creates a small bowel pouch that acts as the rectum since most of the rectum is removed. Another name for a J-pouch surgery is ileal pouch anal-anastomosis or ileoanal anastomosis (IPAA).
What is a J-Pouch?
The main function of the colon is to absorb water, changing liquid stool to solid stool and then sending the stool to leave the body. This means that someone without a colon has consistently watery stool. The goal of the J-pouch is to make a place for the stool to stay in the bowel long enough for water to be absorbed. This allows the stool to be more solid and formed before it leaves the body.
During the procedure, the surgeon removes all or parts of the colon and rectum. They use ileum (tissue from the small intestine) to form the pouch. The pouch gets its name from the fact that it is typically shaped like the letter J.
