Surgical treatment is rarely required in the management of celiac disease unless complications have developed. These complications include severe ulcers and stricturing of the intestine, significant bleeding or perforation and they mostly developed in poorly controlled cases and cases not responding to conventional treatment of a strict gluten-free diet.
At times, a unique form of lymphatic cancer known as T-cell lymphoma may develop in the intestines requiring the use of chemotherapy and local radiation treatment. Such treatment, in some rare instances, can result in intestinal perforation as the lymphoma tissue disappears. As such, surgery may be required to remove the bulk of the cancer tissue ahead of the chemotherapy and radiation treatment to minimise the risk of perforation.
- Dr Quan
