Bowel damage during c-section?

[bncrump]

Is it possible for a piece of the small bowel to be cut or damaged during a scheduled c-section?

I had a c-section 1 year ago and have been having stomach/abdominal problems since then. I went today for an Upper GI & Small Bowel series and I saw what looked to be a "cut" in a piece of the lower small bowel. I have pain down low in the right side of my abdomen and some other abdominal issues. I am waiting for the results but what I saw on the screen looked like a clean cut of the small bowel.

Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

[kygirl11]

I just found this site. I am 50, at age 21, I had a csection, and from that day forward, I could not push out a bowel movement, and no matter what I took to soften, or even when I had loose stools, I have never been able to evacutate.
Years later, a proctologist said it could just be a recticil, and she surgically repaired that. However, it left so much scar tissue, internal hemorrhoids, that I have had to use alternative methods to evacuate.
For the past three years, it has gotten so bad, that I have to use a enema bottle four or five times and try to empty out every other day, and it takes an hour to two hours.
This has ruined my life! I was told by my family doctor, that he has seen this and it means that the nerves to my bowels were cut during a section and there is no treatement.
He also said they don't like to do cholostemies before 55. Any advice on this or help?
I dread doing any rectal surgery again, because the pain is unbearable for many months and I was so sorry I had the recticil repair because it only made it worse.
I think the scar tissue from that has cause more blockage, about six inches up is where it feels like
Any advice or knowledge of what to do from here would be appreciated!

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

Generally, OB/GYN docs, unless they are fellowship trained in GYN Oncology, are not trained to repair injuries of the intestine. It is a reality that there will be intestinal injuries during C-sections given the urgency to get the baby out. I have, as a general surgeon, been summoned to the OR several times to manage small bowel injuries during C-sections. I don't believe that the injury constitutes malpractice but how it is managed (or mismanaged) can.

[KKRYAN]

Mistyrou,
I went through something like this after my daughter's c-section on May 18, 2012. Everything was fine and then 4 days after the c-section a black bruise and redness of the abdomin just above the c-section scar. You could feel the heat coming off of it and I was running a temp of 100.4 so I called the OBGYN and got into see him that day and he looked at my tummy and said "OH ****" which I looked up shocked and said did you just say "oh ****"? and he back stepped to the wall and said no and that I was just fine and he wanted to see me back 2 weeks. I looked between him and my best friend that was with me because my boyfriend went into work and was in the middle of a project, anyways I now confused and scared told the doctor again that I was getting sicker not better and it was coming on faster and then he walked out of the room. So I went home with my daughter and by 10pm (6 hours after the doctors appt) my boyfriend, daughter and I were in the emergency room, the pain was so bad that even the 7.5/500 percocet (4 pills) wasnt doing anything and my fever was 103.7 and I was in and out of conscienceness for the next couple days. I fired the OBGYN and demanded a second and third opinion. The second opinion doctor came in and put me on heavy duty antibiotics and knock your butt out pain medicine in IV form and called for infectious disease control doctor and general surgeon. The general surgeon took me in to remove the hemotome from my abdomin which left a softball size hole just above my c-section scar. They had to cut out nacrotic (dead) tissue all the way down to the fascia between the soft tissue and muscle in the abdomin and they couldnt close the wound because of the infection. 16 weeks later Im still going through wound care which 4 weeks ago under care of a brand new wound care team and plastic/recon surgeon the infection finally cleared thus letting the wound begin to heal and the pain to almost cease. The wound is almost healed now. I have in requested my medical charts and everything in them from the hospital and all the doctors involved and during reading the notes from the OBGYN made after the c-section about the c-section, he noted that he nicked the bowels during the c-section and had to close them up by suturing. We were NEVER informed of this by him, or anyone on his team or the nurses NO ONE and that because of this and it not being cleaned up enough and not being placed on antibiotic after the c-section just to be safe, I had 3 severe bacterial infections and was told that I was lucky to be alive. Im now in the process of finding legal reps to preceed with going after the doctor for medical mal-practice and neglect and pain and suffering and medical expenses. Doctor's are around or atleast should be to help not hurt, somewhere at some unfortunate moment the medical industry became about money and numbers instead of helping and saving the ill and hurt and if doctor's wont change then it's the people by using the law to assist them that should force this change. Good luck to all. Much Love K

[suszy123456789]

mistyrou,my heart goes out to you,i give you so much credit i don't think i would be able to emotionally handle that. i give you lots of credit for being strong.

[mistyrou]

well last aug i had my first child on th 19 i had to have a emergency c section my smal bowl was cut i got to go home two days later on the 21 when i went home i could hardley walk doc told me it was from the c section so i said ok by the 26 i couldnt lay down hold me son all i could to was hold me stomach i was then rushed to the hospital becasue i had a high fever. they done an exploritory sugery didnt find nothing was in icu for a week went to a reg room told me if i could eat i could go home that was sunday that was the last thing i remember and that was september 3rd i then when i woke up i was told that i had been on life support it was then september 27 on on september 11 they went in agen and found the cut i had bowl leaking in to my system for almost a month i had to be put on life support i was thrwoing up bowl and my organs started to shut down the doc could not tell my family form day to day if i was going to make it threw the night or not. it has almost been a year and im still not back to normal. so if you had a cut in your bowl you would know it but good luck and hope all is well

[Fuzzz]

If you had a cut in your small bowel, I believe your intestinal contents would be spilling into your abdomen, causing peritonitis.  I don't think you could live with that for a year since it's a life-threatening condition.  

I hope you get good news and they can fix the pain you're having.