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Dear Ask The Doctor: In October 2009 I had a Spigelian Hernia repaired with mesh after experiencing 3 years of pain and many trips to the emergency room in those 3 years (when it was finally diagnoised). In May of 2010 I was taken to the Emergency Dept as I was experencing acute pain in the same location as the repaired hernia. The Emergency doctor ordered a CT with contrast and I was given pain medication and the pain went away after about an hour and the results of the CT was "no obvious tear of the repair" .I spoke with my surgeon later and she said it was probably due to adhesions in that area and to let time heal it. Two days ago I again experienced the same unrelenting pain. A CT was ordered with contrast again and after 2 hours the pain went away and it takes 3 hours for the contrast to work through my system and the end result of the CT was "No acute pain source identified". Can adhesions explain the SAME pain in the SAME location as previous to the hernia repair? It has been almost a year since the repair and will the pain ever go away? Should I be seeking advise from an internist?
Dear Elaine: I understand your concern and frustration with this recurrent problem. I am inclined to agree with your surgeon that adhesions are the cause of your pain. Especially since two contrast CT scans have been done and no other possible causes of the pain identified. Adhesions may cause the intestines to "twist" dirupting there blood supply and in so doing can cause severe pain. More often than not, they untwist spontaneously and the pain is relieved. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when this twisting will occur or if it even will occur again. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 03 September 2010 )
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