Adhesion Related Disorders (“ARD”) and More

It is unfathomable that a disorder that conservatively costs the United States (“US”) healthcare system between $2-$3 Billion a year per a 2019 publication by National Center for Biotechnology Information (“NCBI”), not including economic and socio-economic dollars, does not warrant cohesive research into its CAUSE, its EFFECT, its TREATMENT and its CURE.  To that end, the petitioners below, strongly urge the US through The National Institute of Health (“NIH”), The Office of the President of the United States (“OPUS”), The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), The Senate and The House of Representatives to allocate priority funding to seek a cure for ARD and more.

The consequences and the complications of abdominal and pelvic adhesion formation following surgical intervention, both open and laparoscopic, can lead to chronic debilitating pain with risks increasing after each additional surgical procedure.  Approximately 75% all patients, male and female, that present with persisting symptoms of ARD have had a history of prior abdominal and/or pelvic surgical intervention, suffered abdominal infections, suffered abdominal trauma, or have gone through abdominal or pelvic radiation therapy. 

ARD is an insidious disorder that can leave sufferers with chronic debilitating pain due to loss of flexion, distortion or twisting of abdominal organs. Many go on to suffer what is commonly referred to as a frozen or cemented abdomen.  Adhesions and ARD can lead to bowel obstructions, nerve entrapment, infertility, create a difficult environment for future surgeries and in some cases death.  It can lead to inadvertent injury to small bowel, bladder and ureters with increased surgical duration and increased blood loss.   Because adhesions cannot be seen on X-rays, on Scans, on MRIs, or through other conventional medical detections methods, sufferers that present in emergency rooms (“ERs”) are often misdiagnosed, mistreated, or worse sent home to suffer in silence.   In many cases, insurance carriers deem care for ARD and adhesions as “not medically necessary”.

Research into the cause of, effect of, treatment for or cure of chronic adhesions and ARD is often disjointed, non-cohesive and under reported.  Most surgical consent forms do not even include adhesions as a possible complication of surgery.  The billions of dollars a year spent on medical care for chronic adhesions and ARD does not even consider the economic and socio-economic dollars lost by employers, employees and/or caregivers due to absenteeism.   It does not consider the dollars paid out by Short-Term Disability (“STD”), Long-Term Disability (“LTD”) or Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) as sufferers withdraw from the workplace and seek solace in order to deal with the chronic pain and side effects of ARD. 

Therefore, the petitioners below urge The National Institute of Health (“NIH”), The Office of the President of the United States (“OPUS”), The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), The Senate and The House of Representatives prioritize funding in order to seek a cure for ARD and more.  It is time that the definitive cause, the lasting effects, cohesive treatments and a cure for Adhesion Related Disorders and more be made a priority so those that suffer do not need to suffer in silence.