Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] My husband had major surgery for rectal cancer last August - had a j pouch and ileostomy. He has anastomotic leak and infection. Had long course of antibiotics but still suffers bad back pain.  He has a hard area left of his spine causing lots of pain. Recent ct scan shows no cancer.  What could the cause of his pain be?
[|AI|]  Hi and welcome to Chat Doctor. Thank you for your query. It is hard to find the exact cause. There can be spine metastasis, pancreatic disorder or degenerative arthritis. He should do spine MRI to rule this out. Till that he just needs some strong painkillers and physiotherapy. ALso, some surgical complications can lead to such pain such as adhesions or intra-abdominal infection. Without further testing nothing can be confirmed.Wish you good health.