Shortness of Breath & Pain

[DonnaABC]

I had a major back surgery in 2005 and it went bad. IThey punchered my lung and I had several issues later related to this. I have had lots of issues of shortness of breath since the surgery.
I found out today that my diaphram is not moving on the left side. Does this require surgery or is it something that I have to live with, I am only 53 and have a lot of live to live and being short of breath> This is horrible.
Thanks,
Donna

[Jaybay]

Hi Donna and welcome!  I so wish we had a doctor moderating the forum to help with these kinds of questions, but we don't.  I'll take a stab it though.  :-)

Did you happen to have any infection in connection with the punctured lung?  The reason I'm asking is because I think scar tissue might be the problem.  Since your diaphragm isn't moving normally, that means it's more of a mechanical problem.  So what would stop a large muscle like the diaphragm from moving correctly?  Scar tissue.  It forms as a normal response to inflammation, which could have been caused by the injury to the lung and any related infection.

As scar tissue forms it can get stuck on different body structures and cause problems like bowel obstruction, infertility from blocked fallopian tubes, urination problems if the bladder and ureters are affected, etc.  At that point, scar tissue is referred to by doctors as adhesions.  

Most people aren't ever aware of internal scar tissue following surgery or other injury.  Many times it makes its presence known quite a bit later from the original injury that no connection is made between the two problems.  As adhesions age, that soft filmy tissue becomes harder and ropier.  If it's on an organ that needs to be mobile within the body like say small intestines, it can become very painful and cause bowel obstruction.  Lungs obviously need to move as they inflate and deflate, and the diaphragm needs to move along with them.  If the lung and the diaphragm muscle are "glued" together with adhesions, you'll experience shortness of breath.

Yes, adhesions have to be treated surgically but it's usually a minimally invasive laparascopic procedure.  The scar tissue isn't removed like a tumor would be, but rather lysed (cut) to release the affected structures so they can freely move again.  Adhesions generally don't show up on imaging studies because they're soft tissue which can make diagnosis and treatment a real nightmare.  A general surgeon is who you want to do this surgery.  The main risk with operating is more inflammation which might mean more adhesions.  That's the main reason many surgeons don't want to treat adhesions or prefer to wait until the patient is in danger of death if surgery is not performed.

You're going to need to have a thorough conversation with your doctor to get some imaging studies done and take it from there.  I'm not a doctor and I could be completely wrong, but you do need to see a doctor to get to the bottom of this problem and get it treated.  I don't think the shortness of breath is something you'll have to just live with.  :-)

[jamlws]

I would try to ask your dr what can be done about your diaphram that would be the best person to ask.
When you have surgery you put your trust into the dr doing and when something goes wrong it is a big disapointment. I am so sorry your going thru this.
I would ask your dr or get a 2nd option from another dr. You shouldn't have to live being short of breath all the time, I can't even imagin what your going thru.
Best of luck to you
Jamie