Colon Kink

A colon kink is a sharp bend or a twist in the colon. Although sometimes kinks are normal in the colon, kinking can cause obstruction of the colon in certain patients. A good example of a natural kink is in the sigmoid colon (the S- shaped terminal part of the large intestine). This kink or bend, located at the junction of the large intestine with the rectum, is an evolutionary adaptation to avoid unintentional evacuation of fecal matter. This colon kink acts a barrier that gets released when the patient squats thereby allowing free, unobstructed passage of waste matter.

Disorder

When kinks in the colon occur unnaturally, the patient can suffer what is described as “colicky pain” which is characterized by sharp spastic episodes of pain. Patients with established kinking of the colon are often able to localize the pain the exact location of the colic. Much like the kinks or bends in garden water hoses that cause a sudden cessation in the flow of water or at least a decrease in rate of flow, colon kinks pose a lot of difficulty for patients while passing stools. The patient is constipated and more often than not requires alternative methods to rid the body of accumulated fecal matter.

Detection of Colon Kinks

Colon kinks are diagnosed by a combination of medical history, physical examination and radiographic analysis. During physical examination, patient presents with pain and tenderness in a specific region of the abdomen corresponding to the colon. Upon radiographic examination (by asking the patient to consume bismuth meal), the parts of the colon up to the region of the kink show brightly and those parts beyond the kink remain dark.

Causes of Colon Kinks

Colon kinks may occur due to cancerous or non cancerous causes. Those occurring due to cancerous or malignant causes show characteristic signs and symptoms and also are generally of shorter duration. One of the main non cancerous causes of kinks in the colon is colon diverticulitis. Diverticuli is a term used to refer to small pockets or pouches that forming the walls of the colon. Once these pouches form, they entrap mucous, fecal matter and other waste products and as a result, prevent them from being fully voided during bowel movements. With time, these entrapped waste matter causes inflammation and subsequently scarring of the colon. Scarring in turn causes colon kinks between different parts of the colon. Non cancerous kinks usually show a history having been present since several years; sometimes over 10 years.

Preventive and Good Health Measures

Regular colon cleansing and colon irrigation procedures have known to provide a lot of relief from constipation caused due to kinking of the colon and also aid in complete evacuation of the colon diverticuli (pouches) wherever present. It is usually recommended that patients requiring colon cleansing undergo the procedure in the morning after attempting a normal bowel movement. Patients must take care not to eat anything in the hours leading up to the irrigation procedure. Those with doubts or queries must consult their doctor before attempting these colon cleansing procedures.