Intestinal adhesions

For a lay person:

Intestinal adhesions are bands of scar tissue that form between loops of bowel or between the bowel and the abdominal wall. They usually develop after abdominal surgery, infection or inflammation, and may cause no symptoms, chronic abdominal pain or a blocked bowel.

For a trained medical person:

Fibrous bands resulting from peritoneal injury, most commonly after abdominal or pelvic surgery, and the leading cause of small bowel obstruction. They are not visible on standard imaging; diagnosis is often presumptive, with CT used to identify obstruction. Management of adhesive obstruction is initially conservative (bowel rest, nasogastric decompression, fluids), with surgery (adhesiolysis) for strangulation or failure to resolve.

In Chinese medicine:

Liu and Tseng's textbook differentiates this condition into these patterns: Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis; Damp-Heat Congestion and Stagnation; Mixed Deficiency and Excess. Treatment follows the pattern a patient presents with, not the Western diagnosis alone.

When to get help: Seek emergency care for severe or constant abdominal pain, repeated vomiting, a swollen abdomen or being unable to pass wind or stool, which can signal bowel obstruction.