Fusing intestines.

[tammyp]

Hello
I read a post with someone asking if anyone has had problems with intestines fusing together. I have this problem. I recently had a my ascending colon and a small part of my small intestines removed when I went into er with a flare up they said i had a appendix inflammation. When they went in to remove the dr said it was fused to my intestines and I had wall thickening from scar tissue on my ascending colon causing him to have to remove it along with my appendix. He said it was a matted mess inside.... I am worried about what exactly a matted mess means... the surgeon never came back into see me with my stay at hospital, so I had to relay questions through another Dr. and did not get the answer to if and how much of my intestines are fused together. I had been hospitalized twice for obstruction due to inflammation and suffered through over a year of non stop crohn's flare ups. I had a few colonoscopy's showing pus pockets and redness.. In one of them they could not get scope past a flare up due to the inflammation and had to reset for another colonoscopy with a child scope. My crohn's is a complication from my arthritis. It was so very tiring through having over a year of non stop flare up and not seeing a dr who would consider checking me for anything because he was so stuck on the pain fateful_one i am on. i was finally referred to a great dr who did his job and found out I was suffering from crohns. I have looked to see if fusing is a common part of crohns but have not found anything. Anyone else have this problem? If so what is the long term issues with it?

 

[Muppetgirl]

Its a shame he did not come back and speak to you. Have you a copy of your surgery notes? Can you request an appointment to discuss it further? The fusion or matting that you describe is the result of scar tissue in the abdominal cavity itself (as opposed to inside the bowel lumen). Organs become stuck together like glue which is why they are also referred to as adhesions. Anything that irritates the abdominal wall or cavity can cause them. It could be that you appendix is the source but sometimes the causal event is not known.

I have had numerous issues with adhesions including a so called frozen pelvis where all my pelvic organs (reproductive, bowel and bladder) were stuck together in one big immobile mass. But in my case I have endometriosis too so that was my explanation. If those pus pockets and redness that you mention somehow reached your pelvic cavity then it would have caused a significant inflammatory reaction. Removing the adhesions should help but surgery can cause them too, so bit of a vicious circle. However, most adhesions don't cause pain or obstructions, so its often best to leave be if not symptomatic. I hope you can get more info on what they found.