In some cases, surgery may become necessary if, for example, a narrowed segment of bowel causes an obstruction or the symptoms are not responding to either enteral feeding or a drug regime.
The type of surgery will depend on the part of bowel affected. There are different types of operation, which your paediatric gastroenterologist (or paediatrician) and the paediatric surgeon will discuss with you if surgery is necessary. It may be a straightforward resection of part of the bowel, with a small part of the bowel being removed and the healthy parts joined together.
In more severe cases, it may mean making a stoma either temporarily or permanently, which involves bringing part of the bowel outside onto the stomach and fitting a bag to collect body waste.
Watch Mr Bruce Jaffray, Paediatric Surgeon, Great North Children's Hospital, talk about surgery in IBD.