Adhesion Prevention

Adhesion prevention is the set of steps a surgeon takes to limit adhesions, bands of scar tissue, after abdominal and pelvic surgery.¹ These steps start before surgery and continue during and after it. Adhesions form when surfaces cut apart during surgery heal fused together.

Adhesions can pull organs out of place and impair how the tubes work. They can also add to chronic pelvic pain and to infertility.

Restorative pelvic surgery uses many tools at once. Surgical technique matters most. The surgeon stops bleeding with care and handles tissue gently. Magnification spares nearby tissue. A thorough rinse of the pelvis (irrigation) also helps. Each step limits the inflammation that leads to adhesions.

Restorative pelvic surgery prefers excision, which cuts lesions out, over fulguration, which burns them. Excision removes each lesion with clear edges. Burning leaves dead tissue behind.

Anti-adhesion barriers add a second guard. They keep raw surfaces apart in the critical early stage of healing. One option is oxidized regenerated cellulose. Another is a thin sheet made of sodium hyaluronate and carboxymethylcellulose. A third is a hyaluronic acid gel placed at the end of surgery.

The right barrier depends on the site of surgery and the extent of repair. NaProTechnology surgeons have published their results for decades. Adhesion scores fell as barriers came into routine use. Better technique and barriers worked together to lower them.²

The goal is always the same: a pelvis that heals clean, keeps its normal anatomy and has working tubes again.