
Patients undergoing extensive small bowel resection may be left with short bowel.
#My body doesn t absorb water full#
It plays little role in metabolism and people can live full lives without their large intestine. The large intestine or colon has one primary role, water and electrolyte absorption to concentrate the stool. The answer to the first question, believe it or not is - YES! You can live without a large intestine - something that comes as a shock to many people.


Small and large actually refers to the diameter of the two organs. Which organ is longer? Contrary to how the terminology makes it seem - small and large - the small intestine is longer (22 feet) and the large intestine shorter (5 feet). The small intestine absorbs vitamins and nutrients from the food and drink we consume. The small intestine or small bowel, on the other hand, has three parts – the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The colon removes and absorbs water, is the catalyst for the fermentation of remining material and expels solid matter in the form of feces into the rectum for removal from the body.

From right to left, it is composed of the cecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon and sigmoid colon. We categorize the colon in five distinct parts. The large intestine, also known as the colon or large bowel spans most of the length and width of the abdomen in an upside-down U shape. First, we have to define the two intestines in our bodies.
