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Meckel's diverticulectomy is surgery to remove an abnormal pouch on the lining of the small intestine (bowel). This pouch is called a Meckel's diverticulum.
You will receive general anesthesia before surgery. This will make you sleep and unable to feel pain.
Surgeons can also do this surgery using a laparoscope. A laparoscope is a tiny camera that is inserted into your belly through a small cut. Video from the camera will appear on a monitor in the operating room. The surgeon uses the monitor to do the surgery. In surgery using a laparoscope:
Treatment of Meckel’s diverticulum is needed to prevent:
The most common symptom of Meckel's diverticulum is painless bleeding from the rectum. Your stool may contain fresh blood or look black and tarry.
Most people have surgery to treat a Meckel’s diverticulum if it causes symptoms.
Evers BM. Small intestine. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 48.
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