| Woe to the woman who suffers in illness, unrelenting | | | | adhesions, it is likely the last thing on the list that a |
| illness. Though medicine and science have made great | | | | doctor will mention as a plausible cause of the pain and |
| strides in the battle against many illnesses, there is an | | | | problems that are going on within the body. And, more |
| illness that is hushed; shrouded in silence among many | | | | often than not, the condition will never be mentioned at |
| physicians. Far from being rare, this illness carries with it | | | | all, although the person may be presenting with all the |
| staggering statistics, yet the public at large is not privy | | | | symptoms of adhesions, or adhesion related disorder. |
| to this-often debilitating-disorder: adhesions. Adhesions, | | | | Of course, this sends the sufferer roaming the |
| the body's natural response to infection, inflammation | | | | beautiful globe in search of a doctor who gives a big |
| or injury, are bands of scar tissue that can form inside | | | | rat's whisker about their condition. On the average, a |
| the body causing the internal organs to fuse together. | | | | woman will suffer 7-10 years, going in and out of |
| *Over 93% of patients who undergo major abdominal | | | | doctors' offices in search of an answer to their pain |
| or pelvic surgery will develop adhesions. Adhesions, | | | | and symptoms. |
| quite common, are known to form in as many as 60 to | | | | Adding insult to injury is the fact that adhesions elude |
| more than 90% of women undergoing gynecologic | | | | the probing eye of standard medical tests, such as |
| surgery. | | | | X-rays, scans, MRI's, etc. Diagnostic laparoscopy |
| In the medical world, adhesions are foremost known to | | | | (minimally invasive surgery) is the only means by which |
| be an iatrogenic disorder-meaning caused by the | | | | to properly diagnose adhesions. |
| physician or by medical treatment (or both)-yet prior to | | | | How can you determine if you might be suffering from |
| surgery, the surgeon rarely informs his patient of the | | | | adhesions? Adhesion sufferers describe their pain as |
| risk of developing adhesions. For the fortunate person | | | | intense, stabbing, sharp, and/or pulling. Some sufferers |
| who is not scheduled for surgery, the risk of adhesions | | | | cannot walk uprightly, as adhesions restrict mobility. |
| is still a concern. Adhesions can develop as a result of | | | | Simple movement such as bending and stretching can |
| infection or an inflammatory condition. Endometriosis, | | | | be compromised. Many sufferers experience frequent |
| PID (pelvic inflammatory disease), appendicitis, | | | | nausea, which often leads to vomiting. Many sufferers |
| peritonitis, trauma to the body (including surgical | | | | state that they feel "worse" after eating a meal-though |
| trauma), and even radiation, are all examples of health | | | | they were hungry-often lamenting having eaten at all. |
| conditions or treatments that produce favorable | | | | When the intestines are involved with adhesions, a |
| conditions for the development of adhesions. | | | | bowel obstruction can occur. A bowel obstruction is |
| *Adhesions were first documented in 1872.....yes, 1872, | | | | described as intense abdominal pain, nausea, and often, |
| yet most people, when asked, have never heard of | | | | vomiting. A bowel obstruction is a life-threatening |
| adhesions. Thomas Bryant made that first | | | | emergency, requiring immediate medical care. (Keep in |
| documentation when he reported a fatality due to | | | | mind that others may experience different symptoms |
| adhesion-related bowel obstruction after gynecologic | | | | than those that are described here.) In addition: though |
| surgery. Over the next 130 years, adhesions have | | | | this article is geared toward women, men can also |
| maintained prominence in the medical literature, both as | | | | suffer from adhesions. Trauma to the body (a blow to |
| a study topic and as a factor influencing various | | | | the abdomen, for instance) surgery, or even a seat |
| treatments and outcomes. | | | | belt injury, can cause intestinal adhesions in men. |
| Though adhesions have maintained prominence in | | | | For the adhesion sufferer, it is time for knowledge of |
| medical literature as a study topic and a factor that | | | | this disorder to be at the forefront of medicine. For the |
| influences various treatments and outcomes, | | | | doctor and surgeon, it is time to talk-to your patient. |
| adhesions have, for the most part, remained hidden to | | | | Sources: |
| the public at large. The doctors may be studying, but | | | | *Confluent Surgical |
| they're sure not talking-at least not to their patients. | | | | *Bryant T. Clinical lectures on intestinal obstruction. Med |
| When a person is suffering from the dreaded disorder, | | | | Tim Gaz 1872;1:363-5. |