Abdominal adhesions refer to the scar tissues that develop between abdominal organs and tissues. These scar tissues cause your organs and tissues to stick together. It develops mainly due to surgery of the abdomen.
Usually, people do not need treatment for this. Abdominal adhesions can be called bands of scar tissues. The formation of these tissues mainly occurs in the area of your small intestine. The abdominal cavity is the area inside your body from your chest to your hips.
This area includes your spleen, digestive system, liver, pancreas, kidneys, and female reproductive organs. If you had surgery on your abdomen, you may be vulnerable to getting abdominal adhesions.
Symptoms
Most adhesions do not manifest symptoms. Sometimes abdominal adhesions can lead to twisting of your intestinal area. This condition can appear in a short period of time after having surgery. You can also develop it after years of surgery.
People with this issue may suffer from partial or complete obstruction of their intestine that is known as small bowel obstruction. Liquid, food, waste material, and air fail to pass through your body in obstruction. In this condition, you can develop signs like bloating, etc.
People with this condition can also suffer from severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and nausea. Consult your doctor if you are having such issues because they can turn into serious complications later on.
Diagnosis
Doctors use different tests to diagnose abdominal adhesions. They usually do not prefer imaging technology. It includes X-rays, CT scans, and ultrasounds. These tests cannot diagnose abdominal adhesions. They can only detect intestinal blockages.
These blockages help to determine information about the abdominal adhesions. Schedule an appointment with your doctor if you had surgery and you think that you are developing the symptoms of abdominal adhesions.
Early checkups can save you from getting the severe issue. A healthcare professional suggests you right treatment. Visit the clinic regularly to get treatment on time.
Treatment
In most cases, treatment is not required for abdominal adhesions. The reason is that they do not cause symptoms in many cases. If you have to go through an additional surgery and already you are suffering problems from abdominal adhesions, you can get more issues.
These surgeries can make your symptoms of abdominal adhesions more complicated. You may also get more adhesions. For this reason, many healthcare professionals try to avoid surgeries. They may recommend surgery if the blockage is causing severe symptoms.
The only option may removal of the scar tissue. Your doctor can prescribe you different medications for abdominal adhesions.
Prevention
A surgeon cannot stop your body from developing more abdominal adhesions. Laparoscopic surgery usually does not cause abdominal adhesions. The reason is that cuts during this surgery are smaller. Your surgeon tries to insert a small camera during this surgery.
He or she may also insert some instruments using small incisions. Open surgery needs greater incisions. The good news again is that people do not develop adhesions in most cases. And in case they develop adhesions, these adhesions do not cause symptoms.
A person can have complicated abdominal adhesions but he may never develop the symptoms. It seems surprising but this case is also possible. Your surgeon can consider further operation if you are getting bowel obstructions repeatedly.
Do not forget that a complete obstruction can prove life-threatening for you. If you get severe cramps and abdominal bloating, see your doctor. Bloating and swelling of the abdominal area are also alarming. Problems of getting abdominal adhesions are common after the operation.
Don’t worry about the problem of abdominal adhesions if you got this issue the first time after the operations. Consult your healthcare provider if you are getting the symptoms after years of having surgery.
The passage of gases, food, and stool occurs freely after the surgery in normal cases. In adhesions, this free and normal passage becomes disturbed. The reason is the tethering of the loops of your intestine to each other.
Other abdominal walls and organs can also tether to each other. This obstruction leads to symptoms like colicky pain and abdominal distention. Furthermore, a decrease in stool and constitutional symptoms can also occur.
Typical adhesions remain unnoticed. The adhesions that cause pain are hepatic adhesions. A patient feels pain when he deeply exhales and inhales. It leads to more pain or stretching.