Adhesions?

[cancerfighterswife]

Hello all. My husband had colon resection surgery in March of 2013 and has since been NED (praise Jesus). He had a stricture at his last colonoscopy and they did a dialation. Just recently, he has been having a lot of pain and discomfort after eating, or while trying to go to the bathroom. He went to the doctor and they seem to think that although there is a slight chance of recurrence, he has adhesions. I haven't heard of them before this but after doing some reading they said that they are somewhat common after abdominal surgeries. I'm thinking he has some sort of blockage going on. Has anyone experienced this before? And if so, what are some things that he can do in the meantime to get some relief? They are supposed to be scheduling a CT, but that hasn't happened yet. Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much in advance!

[NZJay]

Greetings and best wishes!

About 4 months after my surgery, I was experiencing shooting pains in my abdomen and was given a CT which came back suggesting peritoneal spread.

A subsequent PET showed the area of thickening had completely vanished, and the general consensus was adhesions had caused the suspicious area on the CT.

They handle the intestines fairly roughly during resection and adhesions are pretty common from what I've heard.

[ziggymonster]

Adhesions are very common with abdominal surgery. In most cases they don't cause any problems. However, in about 5% of patients there are problems. The biggest one is a small bowel obstruction which shuts off the flow of everything and leads to extreme pain and bloating. In many cases these will clear on their own. If not you must get to the ER for management...pain relief, hydration,npo,ng tube.....oftentimes it will clear, if not surgery is indicated. Over the last 6 years I've been hospitalized 9 times.....did have a surgery (lysis) however the adhesions did return. As I said there is only a minority who get them this bad, but if you are one it is a horrific experience....I k,now all to well.

[lauragb]

While your husband is symptomatic and waiting for tests, here are some suggestions. Stay as hydrated as possible. He may want to follow a low residue diet for a while. Eat small amounts of food at a time and chew it to a pulp. Keep walking and moving. For pain, use a heating pad or take a hot bath.

If he would develop symptoms of a blockage, extreme pain, nausea and often vomiting, he should go to the ER.

The intestines move all the time. Hopefully his issues will resolve but he needs to be checked out if he is still having problems and they do need to rule out recurrence.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

[Nickmark59]

I have had to have bowel dilated couple times now from adhesion from surgery and after procedure it really helped with pain.

[Bev G]

Hi CFW,

Adhesions (scar tissue) are virtually inevitable after abdominal surgery--they're sort of like part of the healing and you've gotten great advice from the peeps who have responded to you. I had a cesarian section almost 38 years ago and still have adhesion(s) in my right lower pelvis that cause a sharp, stabbing pain when I sneeze. As I think Ziggy mentioned, the adhesions can be sort of "released" through surgery, butt then, ANY abdominal surgery is going to create new ones. Double-edged sword.

Best wishes,

Bev