Scar Tissue § Adhesions

[sherrylou]

I'm 38 years old. Since the age of 15 I have been suffering with pelvic pain. the small town tht I lived in at the time diagnosed me with gas, ulcers & pelvic infection and even sexually transmitted diseases. All the test results and their findings were negative. They basically told me they couldnt do anything for me at the time. I made a decision to move to a large city in the USA. Within one day they found my problem, ovarian cycsts the size of grapefruits. the next day I was operated on. I had relief for about five years. At the age of 22 the ovarian cycsts returned. Again i was operated on. Since that time I have had a total of five laperatomies and seven laproscopic procedures. I am sure all these have to do withall the scar tissue that I suffer with today at the age of thirty eight. I cant seem to find a surgeon that is willing to remove the adhesions due to the fact that they do not think it would do me any good because the adhesions would return rapidly within a year or two and possible cause more adhesions than what I already had. After 14 years of nursing I was forced to stop working due to the excruciation pelvic pain and disconfort. everyday is a constant battle with pain. I can seem to find a doctor that is knowledgeable or that is willing to help me with this serious illness. I belong to pain clinics, homopathic clinics which only help withmaybe five percent of my pain. the grade of medicine tht is being given to me is a norcotic so only a certain amount is dispensed at one time so I do not have relief from medication due to the fact that not enough medication is being given for the amount of pain I am having. At 38 years old I am seriously considering tht my life has ended for any enjoyment and happiness. I only see a grim future for me. I often wonder if I can become part of a study for any new procedures or medications for my illness, but tht would be a dream come true. I do not know how to go about finding this information out or how to persue it. I have given so much of myself to so mamy causes in my life that I feel that I deserve a little bit of happiness and comfort. Every morning I wake up with sever pelvic pain, it feels like some ones is sticking a knife through my abdominal cavity. I'm on constant stool softeners due to the constipation of the pain medicine. Every time I have a bowel movement I suffer from horrible pain, like if a truck ran over me and cut me in half. I dont believe i have ay more tears to cry from my pain. I often have suicidal thoughts but I am getting help with my depression. When I feel the pain coming on I get a very bad bout of anxiety and panic attacks. it has gotten so bad that i can not car for my home or care for my self. The quality of care has gone down hill. You could say that I've given up on my home and my self and my well being. If there is anything that you know of anything that could help relieve my pain and or condition or any medical studies in this area please let me know! Thank You

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Unfortunately if the problem is adhesions, the options are limited. There some commercially available membranes that may prevent future adhesions.  The most promising technologies for adhesion prevention involve bioresorbable barrier membranes. Currently, there are two commercially available membranes. Both the "Intercede" membrane (oxygenated regenerated cellulose, Ethicon Inc, Somerville, New Jersey) and "Seprafilm" (sodium hyaluronate-based carboxymethylcellulose, Genzyme Corp, Cambridge, Massachusetts), appear to be safe and effective in preventing adhesions to surfaces on which they are placed intraoperatively.  However, long term studies with these options are limited and no definite improvement have been seen yet.  

Another consideration would be nerve transection procedures.  One option would be laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation (LUNA) which involves the destruction of the uterine nerve fibers that exit the uterus through the uterosacral ligament.

Another option would be presacral neurectomy (PSN).  This refers to interruption of the sympathetic innervation of the uterus at the level of the superior hypogastric plexus. PSN is performed by incising the pelvic peritoneum over the sacrum and identifying the sacral nerve plexus, which is then transected.

These considerations can be discussed with your surgeon or gynecologist.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

Bibliography:
1) Barbieri.  Chronic pelvic pain.  UptoDate, 2004.

2) Freije.  Preventing adhesions in gynecologic surgery.  UptoDate, 2004.

[tat]

HEY THERE,

IF I CAN NOT GIVE UP, YOU CAN NOT EITHER. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM. I AM 32 AND HAVE SEVERE ADHESIONS DUE TO SURGERIES. I KNOW YOUR PAIN AND FRUSTRATION. AS A MATTER OF FACT I PUT A HOLE IN MY WALL THE OTHER DAY BECAUSE I AM SO MAD. MY ANGER IS WHY DID THESE DOCTORS DO THIS TO ME. I AM 32 WITH A TOTAL HYSTERECTOMY. MY PROBLEM WITH PAIN WAS ADHESIONS FROM C- SECTIONS. I DID NOT NEED A HYSTERECTOMY. THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DO NOT RESEARCH FIRST. THE DOCTOR TOLD YOU TO LOOK INTO THE NERVE TRANSECTION. I HAVE HEARD OF THIS BEFORE AND I AM GOING TO FIND A DOCTOR WHO DOES THIS. I HAD AN ABLATION ON MY HEART A YEAR AGO AND IT WORKED GREAT. I HOPE THIS DOES THE SAME. IN THE MEANTIME, LIGHT STETCHING HELPS. IT HURTS YET IT FEELS SO GOOD. YOU CAN FEEL THE ADHESIONS PULL THEN RELAX. IF POSSIBLE DO NOT VACUM, DO LAUNDRY, OR DISHES. THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WILL PUT ME IN BED IN TEARFUL PAIN. I HAVE ADHESIONS THAT TIE ALL ORGANS TOGETHER. THEREFORE, THE ORGANS DO NOT MOVE OR FUNCTION PROPERLY. THE PAIN PILL ISSUE IS A CATCH 22. THE PAIN IS NOW AND RELIEF IS NEEDED NOW. THEN TOMARROW COMES AND SO DOES CONSTIPATION. CONSTIPATION AND ADHESIONS IS AGONIZING. I HAVE ACUALLY PASSED OUT BECAUSE THE PAIN WAS SO INTENSE. THEN YOU GO TO THE DOCTOR AND THEY THINK OF YOU AS A COMPLAINER. IT IS A NO WIN SITUATION. TRY HOT HERBAL TEAS AND STRETCHING. I HOPE IT HELPS A LITTLE. ANYTIME YOUR DOWN AND OUT EMAIL ME. ***@****
BEST OF LUCK, TANYA

[god cares]

hello, i am 38 years old i have had 14 surgerys since the age of 15, i have been cut across the adamon from hip to hip 4 times, for removal of cysts that grew on scar tissue, also i have had another surgury a ingunial hurnia surgery which was below pelvic hair line, theire is scar tissue theire also because i have alot of pain theire and were the large scar is from hip to hip, theire is alot of pain and you can feel thick tissue under the scar and is very tender to the touch, this pain will be in the adamon everyday and it travels around to my lower back and then down my legs, i am very uncompfortable everyday, vacuming and sweeping mowing and intercourse is very painful and will be very severe for several days after if i do these things i cant run or jog or bee on my feet for no longer than 4 or 5 hrs without the pain getting severe,also it will just hurt when i get up in the morning and be severe all day were i cant do much, i also have a cystalic bladder- (cystitist) bladder and that pain is right were all the other pain is, my pain on a scale of 1 to 10 as 10 being the worst i stay in a 7 and sometimes a 8 everyday and a 10 when i vacume or have intercourse or mow ect..in all surgerys i do not have a uterus or ovaries or anything in theire, i was wondering why does it hurt so bad a doc said to me one time scar tissue doesnt hurt!could it be scar and adhesions on the nervers since it travels around to lower back and legs? also i do not have a doc as of now. what kind of doc do you recomend to see for treatment and also what kind of treatment is theire besides surgery because they say it will grow back, also what kind of meds is avalible? family doc gave me  lortab 7.500 3 times a day and also soma tabs 1- 3 times a day but now i dont have a family doc and dont have any reilef! thank you for your response.

[god cares]

sherry hello i wrote a coment and if  you  have any advice for me please feel free to e-mail me at  ***@****. my comment was god cares, and i explained my conditon and if you can help me in any way please e-mail me if you can i explained my conditon on  your coment page (post coment) also i feel that you are  experiancing the same thing iam, i hope you are having a good day today and are not in too much pain, god bless and thank you for your response,  thank you............................your freind, god cares

[angel22601]

Hello,
About a year ago I had my kidney and gallbladder removed due to cancer. I never had any pain before the surgery.Since the surgery I have had consant severe pain in the area where the surgery was. I cannot get my urologist to do anything to find the cause of the pain. Alot of people say it is scar tissue inside. Can scar tissue cause such severe pain? Is there any tests that can be done to find out if it is indeed scar tissue?Is there any cure. I do not want to continue to have this pain for the rest of my life.Any help would be appreciated.
Angel

[FKE]

A related discussion, Chronic Pelvic pain was started.

[catmcshaw]

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[Jenny2155]

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