Adhesions

[Guest guest]

Had anybody here have any expereince with adhesions. The doc thinks

that is what is causing my current problems. It is quite painful and

causes a good bit if digestive problems. It seems I keep jumping the

the fire to the frying pan and back again. I know that the surgery

to remove them is fairly benign, but surgery for me has never been

very good. There has always been some complication in some form or

another.

The surgeon has said that I need to come back to the clinic and see

him again. I have been debating in my mind what I should do. Should

I try to have them removed and hope they never return or should I

just cut my losses now. I aksed him if I had them when he did the

hernia repair and he said yes. The surgeon who did my total also

said I had quite a few at that time as well. I have had 10 surgeries

in the last 3 years and I just dont know if I can handle any more.

Also, this is really painful and I just cant take any more pain. I

feel like I am in a catch 22. What do ya'll think. Any info you can

sharewith me about this would be most appreciated.

Hope you all are doing well and strting to enjoy some cooler temps as

fall settles in. They said we should have temps in teh 70's this

weekend, last week it was well over 90. I'm really looking forward

to some open window weather.

Thanks again

(SC)

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

What I have been told about adhesions by the surgeon that I trust

is that this is a problem that can only be made worse by trying to

get rid of them. He firmly believes that they should only be

addressed if they are causing a life threatening problem (like

bowel obstruction or bleeding for example). He would also

consider surgery if the person was so miserable with pain...but

he thinks that the take down would only give temporary relief. He

says that there is no way to predict who will get them or even

which procedure in which person will result in adhesion

formation. Or if they are removed, will they come back in the

same place or somewhere else with worse effects? There are

some known risk factors (infection, manipulation, type of

surgery) and previous adhesion formation is a big one.

He also told me that with time, adhesions that have formed will

soften. In my case I think that this has happened - about three to

five years after the surgeries - but that is hard to say for certain

because of everything else that has gone on with me in these

years. I have also heard / read that there are trained massage

specialists who are suppose to be able to help you stretch

adhesions over time to they are not so " pinching " or " tugging " . I

am not sure if this is real or a gimmick, but you may want to look

into it. A friend with major bowel sugery a few years ago was told

by a chiropracter that one cause of adhesion pain is that they

attach to the psossas muscle.....and that a chiropracter (a good

one) can help with this. In her case, he really did (and she was a

huge sceptic / nonbeliever in chiropractice - but I am not

advocating this because I have yet to be convinced).

My good surgeon basically said that if he could figure out a way

to prevent surgical adhesions he would be a

gazzillionnaire....that is it that prevelant, that disabiling and that

elusive of a solution. I have read that surgeons try special

lavages, special surgical techniques, special intruments,

sutures, staples, sponges, clamps, etc to try to figure out the

best way to prevent them from forming. But to no avail. The best

way to prevent them is to not mess with the abdomen unless

necessary...he was quite adamant about it. Now I am not sure if

this was his opinion in my case only...or as a general outlook,

but he was quite convincing to me and I have never considered

going in just to do adhesion removal (other than the bowel

obstruction thing - that has really concerned me!)...although

there is a CPT code for that.........so it must be relatively common

(unless it is only as an adjunct to other procedures).

There really isn't an easy answer but I would be afraid in your

case that going in would only make things worse, based on your

previous experiences.........But if they do go in, it most likely can

be done laparoscopically, which is fairly benign like you said (but

has some risks, just the same......)

laurie