Illeocal valve ? Whats that about ?

So last week when i was in hospital i was told I had colitis and possibly some illeum involvement. Got a call from the GI secratary this morning to get me in for a CT scan on friday morning as they think Something has shown up on the scan from before . She said its to do with the Illeocal valve. ( function)I dont know if thats the right spelling but what does this have to do with this.
Haven't heard of this before so any of you knowledgeable people like to to enligten me that would be great.
I guessing that s where my pain is ?

I had only had the term illieum used for my Crohn's, Peter, but I had wikipedia pulled up on my puter anyway, so searched it....here's a link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ileocecal_valve

Trying to find more on it...

Basically, your digestive tract has 5 valves or sphincters. The first is between your esophagus and stomach and prevents stomach contents from coming back up. The second is between your stomach and small intestine (SI) and prevents food from moving into the SI before it is digested. It allows small amounts of digested material through at a time. The third is between the SI and large intestine (LI). This is the one you're asking about. Like valve #1, it prevents backflow from the LI to the SI. The last two are at the very end. The first is involuntary and when it allows feces through, you feel the urge to go to the bathroom. The last one is (hopefully) voluntary, and it's the one you can see for yourself.

Hope this helps.

Also, to clarify, it's located at the terminal ileum.

I figured it must be, when upon reading the wikipedia I saw that it is the only spot in the body that processes B-12. Since I knew mine was ileum and that now that this spot has been removed surgically, knew they had to be together.

Ducey99 said:

Basically, your digestive tract has 5 valves or sphincters. The first is between your esophagus and stomach and prevents stomach contents from coming back up. The second is between your stomach and small intestine (SI) and prevents food from moving into the SI before it is digested. It allows small amounts of digested material through at a time. The third is between the SI and large intestine (LI). This is the one you're asking about. Like valve #1, it prevents backflow from the LI to the SI. The last two are at the very end. The first is involuntary and when it allows feces through, you feel the urge to go to the bathroom. The last one is (hopefully) voluntary, and it's the one you can see for yourself.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

So what happens to this ? does it get inflammed and have to get removed ?
Is this something I can do with out ? I guess then if i have to have a resection done in this area of the terminal ilieum then i will looses this . So how is the fecies controlled then in to the bowel .

If you have colitis and ileal involvement then you have the most common form of Crohn's known as ileo colitis. When you have this it vey often affects the last part of the ileum, the terminal ileum, and the first part of the large bowel. In-between these two areas is the ileo caecal valve and caecum, a pouch like area between the valve and the large bowel. With ileo colitis is possible for this whole area to be inflamed.

My children only have ileal Crohn's and it affected the terminal ileum only. Due to complications they both required surgery. As the terminal ileum is directly located at the ileocaecal valve it was impossible for them to have a resection without removing the valve and caecum. This is due to the differing sizes of the small and large bowel and the structures between them the only way to successfully join the unaffected ends of bowel is to take the valve and caecum out.

Dusty. xxx

Hi Peter, (I must be just down the road from you!!) once you have bits removed your body works very hard at compensating for the lost bits if possible, so eventually the bowel tries to re-train itself so to speak to compensate for the loss of the valve. It cannot however work it out 100% so you can be left with some residual problems eg short bowel syndrome, chronic diarrhea, vit b12 deficiencies etc many people including myself have had the IC valve removed and I have returned to normal (well as normal as possible). That said surgeons will try to preserve it if poss. Sorry on your diagnosis but hopefully now you can work out what your dealing with and get some treatment. What hosp ru at? I was treated in the RVH.

archie said:

Hi Peter, (I must be just down the road from you!!) once you have bits removed your body works very hard at compensating for the lost bits if possible, so eventually the bowel tries to re-train itself so to speak to compensate for the loss of the valve. It cannot however work it out 100% so you can be left with some residual problems eg short bowel syndrome, chronic diarrhea, vit b12 deficiencies etc many people including myself have had the IC valve removed and I have returned to normal (well as normal as possible). That said surgeons will try to preserve it if poss. Sorry on your diagnosis but hopefully now you can work out what your dealing with and get some treatment. What hosp ru at? I was treated in the RVH.

Click to expand...

Thanks Archie

Im thankfull for the info . It always helps having some backround info before I get bombarded by technical terms at the Hospital . I think especially when they are sugguesting ways forward it helps to know whats goin on . This forum is turning out to be a wealth of information and help.

So I will keep you informaed of the appointment tomorrow if and when he chooses to come forth with some reasonable information.#
Peter:medal1: