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Laparoscopic Lysis of Abdominal Adhesions

ID: ANH00037
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Your surgeon may perform laparoscopic lysis of adhesions or laparoscopic adhesiolysis to remove scar tissue from the organs in your abdomen. Normally the surfaces of your abdominal organs are slippery and move easily past one another as you go about your daily activities. If you have bands of scar tissue in your abdomen, called adhesions, your abdominal organs stick to each other or to the abdominal wall. These adhesions can cause bowel obstruction by constricting your intestines, or twisting or pulling them out of place, partially or completely blocking food or stool from moving through them. If you are a woman, adhesions can also cause infertility by twisting or pulling your fallopian tubes out of place, partially or completely blocking fertilized eggs from reaching your uterus where a baby can grow and develop. The most common cause of abdominal adhesions is abdominal surgery. Other causes can be abdominal infections such as peritonitis, inflammatory conditions such as appendicitis, abdominal trauma, or radiation. To begin your surgeon will inject gas into your abdomen to expand the abdominal cavity making it easier to see the structures inside. Then your surgeon will make a small incision to access the inside of your abdomen. He or she will insert a laparoscope which contains a light, a camera, and a magnifying device. The laparoscope will project images onto a monitor to guide your surgeon's work. After examining the abdominal cavity, your surgeon will make three or four small incisions in your abdomen through which to pass surgical instruments. Using these instruments, your surgeon will cut the adhesions to free the organs from each other. Once all of the adhesions are divided, your surgeon will remove the laparoscopic instruments. The incisions will be closed with sutures, followed by skin glue, or skin closure tape. If there are complications with your laparoscopic procedure, your surgeon will switch to an open procedure with a larger incision.

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