Abdominal Adhesions

What is the abdominal cavity?

The abdominal cavity is the internal area of the body between the chest and hips that contains the lower part of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. The esophagus carries food and liquids from the mouth to the stomach, which slowly pumps them into the small and large intestines. Abdominal adhesions can kink, twist, or pull the small and large intestines out of place, causing an intestinal obstruction. Intestinal obstruction, also called a bowel obstruction, results in the partial or complete blockage of movement of food or stool through the intestines.

What causes abdominal adhesions? Abdominal surgery is the most frequent cause of abdominal adhesions. Surgery-related causes include cuts involving internal organs handling of internal organs drying out of internal organs and tissues contact of internal tissues with foreign materials, such as gauze, surgical gloves, and stitches blood or blood clots that were not rinsed away during surgery Abdominal adhesions can also result from inflammation not related to surgery, including appendix rupture radiation t

Source: Abdominal Adhesions | NIDDK