It is staggering how many people learn of adhesions only after undergoing a surgical procedure. Victim after victim of adhesion related disorder state they were not informed of the risk prior to surgery. Known as an iatrogenic disorder, disclosure of the risk for developing adhesions is largely ignored by the medical profession. While patient after patient is harmed, the surgeon continues to conduct each day with a "business as usual" attitude. No one holds the surgeon to the wall of accountability. Why? Simply because those who suffer are not outraged enough to demand change.
Clearly, it is the harmed patient who must rise up and demand legislation that will make necessary changes to the informed consent process. The surgeon does not disclose simply because he is not required to do so. When the prospective surgical patient learns of the risk for developing adhesions due to a surgical procedure, an informed patient then has the chance to weigh the benefit of surgery against the risk of developing adhesions. Certain patient knowledge is not financially beneficial to the medical profession. What surgeon openly informs the patient that his or her organs could end up fused together due to the surgery itself? Sorry folks, it ain't happening!
Elective c-sections, unnecessary hysterectomies, gastric bypass, tummy tucks and hernia repair, are just some of the surgical procedures that can result in adhesion formation. Statistics are staggering: 93% of patients who undergo major abdominal or pelvic surgery will develop adhesions. Over 50% from that group will develop a problematic condition known as adhesion related disorder.
Many women have written to say, "Had I known I could develop adhesions, I would not have agreed to an elective c-section birth." Many other women write, "Had I known I would end up with adhesions, I would not have had a hysterectomy."
While many think the doctor has his or her best interest at heart going into surgery, minds are changed when the realization sets in that critical information was withheld from the patient. Sadly, even the medical giant, Johnson and Johnson, thinks it is YOUR responsibility to broach the subject of adhesion formation with your doctor. (Excerpt: And yet, many women don't know about adhesions and don't discuss the subject with their doctors before having gynecologic surgery) See: Adhesions Perhaps all the hoopla (read: cash) surrounding this miserable illness (barriers that work in Europe but are not FDA approved for the USA for instance) are the reason medical giants exist in the first place. The Money Barrier. But, I digress.
