Tag Archive for bowel obstruction

Break the Adhesion Surgery Cycle

March 28, 2012 Clear Passage Physical Therapy 6 comments

adhesion-obstruction-cycle

We received a question from one of our blog readers, and we thought it would be important to share the answer with all of our readers who may suffer or know someone who suffers from the pain and discomfort associated with bowel obstruction:

Can surgery for bowel obstructions cause adhesions? I know adhesions cause bowel obstructions, but can surgery from bowel obstructions cause adhesions?

In short, absolutely.

Surgical lysis of adhesions involves cutting or burning the adhesions under general anesthesia, via laparoscopy or laparotomy (open surgery). In addition, the bowel is generally severed, the obstructed area is removed, and the (now shortened) bowel ends are re-attached.

While lysis of bowel adhesions can be effective, surgery has some major drawbacks:

  • Risks associated with general anesthesia and infection
  • The body creates more bowel adhesions as it heals from the surgery designed to remove them (even with the skills of the finest surgeon)
  • 90% of patients develop adhesions following open abdominal surgery
  • 55% to 100% of women develop adhesions following pelvic surgery.1 
  • 35% of all open abdominal or pelvic surgery patients were readmitted to the hospital more than twice to treat post-surgical adhesions during the 10 years after their original surgery.2 

Abdominal surgery itself has been implicated as a major cause of adhesion formation and many patients become trapped in a cycle of surgery-adhesions-surgery.

How can I break the cycle?

Explore the non-surgical treatment option offered by Clear Passage Physical Therapy. Recognizing that surgery can cause abdominal adhesions to recur is an important step forward in our understanding of bowel obstruction. Benefits with choosing Clear Passage include:

  • No drugs or surgery
  • 20 years of experience treating bowel obstructions (SBO). Read more about the history of the Wurn Technique
  • Results reducing or eliminating obstructions
  • Decrease in pain
  • Returns mobility to organs that have become adhered.
Find out how to save 10% on treatment!

 References:

  1. Liakakos T, Thomakos N, Fine PM, Dervenis C, Young RL. Peritoneal Adhesions: Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Significance.Dig Surg. 2001; 18: 260-273. PMID 11528133
  2. Ellis H, Moran BJ, Thompson JN, Parker MC, Wilson MS, Menzies D, McGuire A, Lower AM, Hawthorn RJ, O’Brien F, Buchan S, Crowe AM. Adhesion-related hospital readmissions after abdominal and pelvic surgery: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Br J Med. 1999; 353: 1476-80. PMID 10232313.
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Video: Reclaiming Life After Surgery and Bowel Obstruction

August 23, 2011 Clear Passage Physical Therapy No comments

This place is saving lives.

I thought, you know, I do have a chance at a quality of life again, and I know that these people have saved my life.

I thought it was very important that I share some of the things that I have gone through in my life that are directly related to many surgeries that I have had that have caused me to have bowel obstructions and many, many surgeries.


At the age of 38, I entered the hospital and was given a 20 percent chance to live in the emergency room. Immediately, I was taken upstairs to the intensive care unit. My mother and my wife sat next to my bed and watched me for 69 days hoping and praying that I would eventually heal.

They were told that the best thing they could do was that I would at best be in a wheel chair and at best I would have brain damage. After the 69 days, I came out of a coma. I was very miserable and weighed about 100 pounds. At that point I looked at myself, at all the tubes, and wondered, how am I going to get through this.

I finally got out of the hospital and little did I know how important physical therapy would become in my life.

One day, I’m sitting on the sofa with my wife and start experiencing some severe pain. She suggested that we go to the hospital so we go to the hospital. They had diagnosed me with a bowel obstruction. I had no idea what a bowel obstruction was or that I could get a bowel obstruction from my first surgery. They repaired the bowel obstruction, and what I mean by repair is they remove nine inches of what they call a twisted bowel and I remained in the hospital for 32 days.

The most annerving thing I ever heard was, “There’s nothing we can do about this, you’re probably going to get another bowel obstruction, and we will see you again.” I was flored at that point and very confused, very hurt. I did not know what I was going to do.

I started my search. I did not know where to start, I did not know what I was doing, and didn’t really know what a bowel obstruction was. Later I found out that actually it is the adhesion that actually closes off the bowel which could cause a partial and sometimes even a complete obstruction. There’s nothing they can do about these adhesions, which once again, was very upsetting.

I started first by looking on the internet. I searched for weeks looking for something. By the grace of God, I clicked on a site that speaks about an incredible system that has been developed by Larry and Belinda Wurn. This process is actually called the Wurn Technique.

You do not have to go through the painful process of the NG tube and the healing and the pain that goes along with that. There is someone out there that can put you in a situation where it will not happen again. This technology is out there, this technique is out here.

This place is saving lives. There’s no other way I can put it. They are saving lives. That is why I am sitting right here, right now, telling my story.

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3 Ways Adhesions Cause Bowel Obstructions

May 26, 2011 Clear Passage Physical Therapy 5 comments
Adhesions can form in or around the bowel causing obstructions

Left: Adhesions forming inside the bowel Top Right: Adhesions forming outside the bowel Bottom Right: Adhesions kinking the bowel together like a garden hose

 

Adhesions form as the bodies first response to a trauma, surgery, infection, or inflammation. These adhesions are made up of strong, fibrous cross links that attach to the nearby tissues and organs of the damaged area. When the abdomen or bowel experiences a trauma, adhesions can begin to form in the bowels, causing bowel obstructions. These adhesions can cause bowel obstruction in three different ways.

1. Adhesions can form inside the bowel.

When the bowel experiences a trauma, such as a surgery to remove part of the bowel, adhesions can form inside the bowel. These adhesions, made of thick collagen bonds, make it difficult for food to pass and can often cause cramping and pain during the digestion process.

2. Adhesions can surround and restrict the bowel from the outside.

After a pelvic or abdominal trauma, adhesions can form outside the bowels. These adhesions can surround the delicate tissues of the bowel, restricting and pinching them from the outside. This causes a decrease in digestive function and often pain and cramping after eating.

3. Adhesions can surround and kink the bowel like a garden hose.

When adhesions form on the outside of the bowel, they can surround the bowel causing it to kink much like a garden hose. This often creates a partial bowel obstruction, which makes digestion of solid foods difficult.

Treatment options offered to those who experience bowel obstruction is generally surgery. However, the surgical treatment for clearing bowel obstructions is the main cause of repeat obstructions. This can often lead to an endless cycle of obstructions and repeat surgeries.

A new non-surgical technique, known as the Wurn Technique,  is now being examined as an alternative treatment for bowel obstruction patients. This therapy uses hands-on physical therapy techniques to address the underlying adhesions that cause bowel obstruction.

This video features a patient who received this treatment and found relief from bowel obstructions.

 

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Prior C-Section Can Cause Adhesions

April 21, 2011 Clear Passage Physical Therapy No comments
C-Section Adhesions Scar Tissue

C-section surgery generally causes adhesions to form. These adhesions can pull or spread into neighboring structures, causing c-section pain or dysfunction, including secondary infertility.

C-section Can Cause Adhesions

Cesarean section delivery (C-section) is the most common surgery among women in the US. Unfortunately, this invasive surgical procedure requires a great deal of healing to occur. Adhesions are one of the bodies automatic responses to traumas such as a fall, a surgery, an infection, or an inflammation. These adhesions are much like thick strands of nylon rope that bind to nearby structures and restrict and cover the traumatized area. Though they are designed to help the body heal, adhesions often cause ongoing pain or dysfunction, long after the surface scars have healed.

Adhesions Can Cause Pain

Because adhesions attach to nearby tissues and organs, they create a pull or restriction in the pelvis, which often results in pain. As the organs, tissues, and muscles attempt to move, a resulting pain occurs.

Secondary Infertility if often caused by C-section Adhesions

Adhesions that form after a C-section can bind together delicate reproductive structures, causing dysfunction and secondary infertility.

Adhesions Can Cause Secondary Infertility

As adhesions form throughout the pelvis, they can attach to the delicate organs of the female reproductive system. These strong, fibrous bands restrict the mobility and function of these organs, often causing secondary infertility.

Adhesions Can Cause Digestive Issues

Adhesions can also affect regular digestion by attaching to the outside or inside of the intestine wall. As adhesions bonds grow, they restrict the regular function of digestion, and can often lead to a partial bowel obstruction.

Treatment for Adhesions

Often times, pain killers or infertility drugs are offered as a treatment for those who suffer from post-surgical adhesions. Unfortunately, drugs merely mask the true problem of adhesions and offer no long-term solutions. The next step in treatment is to undergo surgery to cut or burn adhesion bonds throughout the pelvis. However, the trauma of an additional surgery causes additional adhesions to form, which can create an endless cycle of adhesions and surgery.

A manual physical therapy, called the Wurn Technique, has shown excellent results in decreasing pain and increasing function related to adhesions. This therapy feels much like a deep pelvic massage as therapists use their hands to break down the bonds of adhesions throughout the pelvis. This therapy has been endorsed by physicians from Harvard, Northwestern, and Columbia as an alternative treatment to surgery. Click here to learn more about this treatment for post C-section adhesions.

“What a much-needed, useful and safe way to deal with the common, yet mystifying problem of adhesions. You have perfected a technique to treat adhesions, with years of experience, scientific backup and case studies to prove it.”

-Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, Northwestern University Medical Director

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Clear Passage Launches New Website

August 25, 2010 Clear Passage Physical Therapy No comments

Clear Passage Physical Therapy, World Leader in Natural Treatment for Pain and Infertility, Announces New Company Web site

Clear Passage Physical Therapy, founding company of the Wurn Technique® for the treatment of female infertility, and adhesion pain and dysfunction, announces the redesign of its website, www. clearpassage.com.

GAINESVILLE, FL – August 25, 2010 – Clear Passage Physical Therapy is pleased to announce the launch of its new website. The website, www.clearpassage.com, has a fresh new design, reorganized navigation, and new features, including:

Podcasts with streaming and downloadable episodes from Hands that Heal, interviews with the developers of the Wurn Technique

Educational eBooks  and videos on treating female infertility, small bowel obstruction, endometriosis pain, post-surgical pain and adhesions, and much more

Free pdf book chapters from the Wurns’ book Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain

Social media connections and sharing capability

New informational pages for the Wurn Technique® and its treatment of Myomectomy Pain, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Chronic Neck Pain, Hysterectomy Pain, and Post-Mastectomy Pain

“The motivation behind this update was to provide an educational resource to the public on an alternative therapy for treating adhesion-related conditions, some of which were only thought treatable by surgery,” said Ashlynn Northcutt, Media Correspondent for Clear Passage Physical Therapy. The content-rich pages of this Web site provide a wealth of information to people searching for an effective natural treatment, or an alternative to drugs and surgery. In addition to therapy for women’s health conditions (female infertility, endometriosis, menstrual, and intercourse pain), the website now highlights other areas in which Clear Passage has seen success with men, women, and children.

The new home page design focuses on Clear Passage’s mission with the phrase, “We Treat, We Train, We Test.” Northcutt says, “Dedication to treating patients with the highest quality care, training skilled and reputable therapists in the Wurn Technique®, and conducting valid research to quantify the results of the therapy are the three pillars of Clear Passage.” These pillars will be employed as Clear Passage expands nationally by training and certifying physical therapists in major metropolitan areas.  The national expansion will provide more locations for patients who travel from across the country and around the world for this unique physical therapy.

For more information, contact Clear Passage Physical Therapy at www.clearpassage.com or at 352.336.1433.

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