New Jersey: After years of suffering from abdominal pain caused by scar tissue that formed following an appendectomy at the age of 19, Angela Patterson of Hillsborough, New Jersey has been given the chance to start a new, pain-free life.
In November Angela travelled to Braunschweig, Germany, a city near Berlin, to have adhesiolysis performed by Dr. Daniel Kruschinski. Kruschinski, a world-renowned surgeon, uses a technique called gasless laparoscopy and a hydrogen barrier system called SprayShield to remove the bands of scar tissue that can bind abdominal organs. Gasless laparoscopy and SprayShield are not approved for use in the United States. However, Kruschinski has applied these techniques successfully to numerous adhesion sufferers, including Steward’s daughter, Melissa.
Adhesions had left Angela Patterson with a condition called “frozen abdomen,” in which repeat surgeries to remove the fibrous bands create so much internal scar tissue that further surgical intervention becomes dangerous. Inflammatory conditions like appendicitis, internal infections and abdominal surgeries can cause the abdominal tissues to bind together, forming scars. Adhesion formation in the abdominal or pelvic cavity can cause debilitating pain, nausea, vomiting, cramping. Patients with intestinal obstruction may experience constipation, diarrhoea or a combination of both. In severe cases, adhesions can cause intestinal obstruction, bowel strangulation, complications with childbirth and infertility.
For Angela Patterson, prior surgeries to remove the adhesions only made the scarring and pain worse. Patterson reported to local emergency rooms numerous times in search of a solution to her ongoing pain, only to be given pain medication and told that abdominal imaging was either normal or inconclusive. Saddened and frustrated, Patterson refused to give up her search for a solution. Her search led her to Dr. Kruschinski, who has had an 85 percent success rate with gasless laparoscopy using the Abdo-Lift and the SprayShield barrier system. After interviewing a number of Kruschinski’s patients, Patterson decided to travel to Germany to meet the surgeon she calls “The Adhesion Slayer.”
Author Karen Steward, who dedicates her time to helping adhesion sufferers like Angela cover the costs of having adhesiolysis surgery in Germany, reports that five months after her surgery with Dr. Kruschinski, Patterson is recovering at home. Due to the severity of her abdominal adhesions, Angela’s first surgery took five hours. Two subsequent surgeries with Dr. Kruschinski showed no recurrence of adhesions in the areas where scar tissue was removed. Because of the extent of the scar tissue surrounding her intestines, Dr. Kruschinski was not able to remove all of these adhesions without risking Angela’s health. However, Angela is optimistic about her chances of eventually leading a life without pain.
“Going to Germany was one of the best decisions I have ever made regarding my health,” states Patterson, who shared her personal story and announced her plans for surgery in October, 2011. While Patterson knew that her surgery had been successful after the first procedure, she is aware that scar tissue may recur after adhesiolysis. “Dr. Kruschinski stated he is not a magician and does not know if I will in the future have any more obstructions. I truly thank him for his honesty, that way I am not under false impressions that I am adhesion free within that area of my body.”
Dr. Daniel Kruschinski shared his views on Angela Patterson’s surgery and the future of adhesiolysis. “In general there is a sense among doctors that whatever you do, adhesions will always come back. That is why some surgeons are not doing anything to treat patients, even if they suffer extreme symptoms and pain until there is a blockage and emergency surgery for bowel obstruction. I would say that is medicine from the 1970s, with a fatalistic view that is not justified. Specific adhesion barriers work in a specialized set-up in the hands of very experienced surgeons who have the proper infrastructure and clinical concepts. As a progressive physician, I think we must develop a cure or at least a system for reducing adhesions significantly.”
Dr. Kruschinski is confident that the procedures he applies at his surgical centre can minimize the risk that adhesions will come back. “We need experience with new treatment modalities and with new adhesion barriers. Every time I see a success I am getting stronger in believing in what I do. Having treated around 1000 adhesions patients — and having followed their initial adhesiolysis with second- or even third-look surgeries — I am certain that I am on the right path to developing a procedure for successful adhesiolysis. In some patients it might take more than one treatment with a first and second look, but overall, 12 years of follow up with our patients demonstrate that our adhesiolysis procedure works. Our techniques cannot work as successfully with all surgeons as they do in our surgical center, because the skills of the individual surgeon make a difference in the success of the surgery. If you give a brush to 100 painters, you won’t get 100 Picassos, will you? At our center, we use a specialized set-up that includes gasless lift laparoscopy and SprayShield working together to prevent adhesions, along with supplements at the hospital that help reduce postoperative adhesion recurrence.”
As she recovers from surgery, Patterson is following Dr. Kruschinski’s instructions on modifying her diet and activity level. Although her path to healing has just begun, she expresses hope in the future. “I am trying to live my life with this new normal,” says Patterson. “I believe that Dr. Kruschinski saved my life! I thank Karen Steward for bringing awareness to the world about adhesions.”
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