About This Site Intestinal Adhesions

This site contains information from government publications about intestinal adhesions that have been reformatted and reorganized. There are numerous links to the original documents.

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Intestinal Adhesions

Intestinal adhesions are bands of fibrous tissue that can connect the loops of the intestines to each other, or the intestines to other abdominal organs, or the intestines to the abdominal wall. These bands can pull sections of the intestines out of place and may block passage of food. Adhesions are a major cause of intestinal obstruction.

Adhesions may be present at birth (congenital) or may form after abdominal surgery or inflammation. Most form after surgery. They are more common after procedures on the colon, appendix, or uterus than after surgery on the stomach, gall bladder, or pancreas. The risk of developing adhesions increases with the passage of time after the surgery.

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/intestinaladhesions/index.htm

Symptoms of Intestinal Adhesions

Some adhesions will cause no symptoms. If the adhesions cause partial or complete obstruction of the intestines, the symptoms one would feel would depend on the degree and the location of the obstruction. They include crampy abdominal pain, vomiting, bloating, an inability to pass gas, and constipation.

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/intestinaladhesions/index.htm

Diagnosis of Intestinal Adhesions

X rays (computed tomography) or barium contrast studies may be used to locate the obstruction. Exploratory surgery can also locate the adhesions and the source of pain.

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/intestinaladhesions/index.htm

Treatment of Intestinal Adhesions

Some adhesions will cause no symptoms and go away by themselves. For people whose intestines are only partially blocked, a diet low in fiber, called a low-residue diet, allows food to move more easily through the affected area. In some cases, surgery may be necessary to remove the adhesions, reposition the intestine, and relieve symptoms. But the risk of developing more adhesions increases with each additional surgery.

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/intestinaladhesions/index.htm

Prevention of Intestinal Adhesions

Methods to prevent adhesions include using biodegradable membranes or gels to separate organs at the end of surgery or performing laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery, which reduces the size of the incision and the handling of the organs.

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/intestinaladhesions/index.htm

Additional Information on Intestinal Adhesions

The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse collects resource information on digestive diseases for the Combined Health Information Database (CHID). CHID is a database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources.

To provide you with the most up-to-date resources, information specialists at the clearinghouse created an automatic search of CHID. To obtain this information, you may view the results of the automatic search on Intestinal Adhesions.

If you wish to perform your own search of the database, you may access the CHID Online website and search CHID yourself.

source: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/intestinaladhesions/index.htm