Our Recent Question Contest ~ Answer to Paula Benko Weber: Is there a connection between Endometriosis and Adhesions? Since I have had both, I was just curious if one causes the other or if they are independent of each other? Adhesions are bands of scar tissue that form between adjacent surfaces as part of the natural healing process. Imagine if the skin was removed from both palms of your hands and while they were recovering you kept them held together. In time, scar tissue would form, fusing the two palms together. Endometriosis is a common cause of adhesions although not the only cause of adhesions. Adhesions form in response to disease, infection, injury and/or surgery and sometimes adhesions occur without any obvious reason. Adhesion formation varies between individuals: while it is part of the body’s natural healing process, some people produce scar tissue and adhesions far more readily than others. When a woman has endometriosis her body’s immune system responds to the disease by producing inflammation. The tissue surrounding the lesions becomes inflamed and local blood capillaries may burst causing bleeding. Essentially it is almost like little wounds inside the pelvis, which the body tries to heal by making scar tissue. If the areas affected by the disease happen to have other structures nearby, scarring may end up fusing these structures together. The inflammatory process varies between patients. In patients with severe invasive endometriosis, the formation of scar tissue can be extreme and can cause multiple organs to fuse together, distorting the pelvic anatomy. In the most extreme cases, the pelvic structures can become “frozen” together, almost as if someone has emptied a tube of superglue into the patient’s pelvis. Dense adhesions can make surgery far more challenging, but removal of the adhesions and the underlying disease that caused them is essential in the optimal treatment of endometriosis. There are cases where a patient with endometriosis will have adhesions not only due to her disease but also due to other factors, such as a previous c-section or previous infection, so it is possible to have adhesions and endometriosis that are not necessarily related. Mostly, however, if a patient has endometriosis and adhesions, the adhesions have resulted from the ongoing inflammatory disease process. Surgery to remove endometriosis can also present a source of adhesions (post-operative adhesions). If endometriosis is treated this can leave areas of raw tissue which need to heal. Again, scarring can form during the healing process and there is a potential for structures to stick together. The ovaries are especially susceptible to forming adhesions. It can therefore be helpful to use adhesion barriers during surgery to reduce the risk of adhesions and sometimes the ovaries may be temporarily suspended out of harms way so try and prevent them from sticking to things during the initial healing process. Post-operative adhesions tend to form during the first hours and days following surgery but may thicken and tighten over time. Sometimes adhesions can cause pain or other problems, such as bowel obstructions. Therefore careful surgery to remove the source of the adhesions (the endometriosis) and to remove any scar tissue, and special techniques to prevent these adhesions from reforming during the healing process, can help guarantee that the patient has a pain free future. Thanks for your Question !
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 00:49:36 +0000
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