Post-Surgery Pain and Cramps: Normal or Cause for Concern?

Hi everyone,

How many of us have or still have pain and or cramps after surgery?

It's been over a year since my colorectal surgery. The lower portion across my lower stomach and on the outer side around my stoma (not next to it) I have intermittent pains or cramps. I was wondering, is this normal? Do any of you experience anything like that, and does it go away? Usually it happens when lifting or bending.

This is the way we learn, talking with people that understand and who've been through it.

And again, thanks everyone for sharing.

Hi Mountain,

From your description, that sounds like adhesions. Whenever they mess with your bowels surgically, it results in the bowel loops not resting in the same place they were, and the outer surface tends to adhere to anything it comes in contact with. Think of our intestines as being wrapped in duct tape with the sticky side out. Once they adhere to something, they can't stretch as they did originally, and you feel that pain. During most "open" intestinal surgery where they resect bowel, they try to pull some of the thin layer of fat off your inner abdominal wall and wrap the intestines with that to prevent adhesions. During my last bowel operation, the surgeons said they spend the first 4 hours dealing with adhesions from my previous surgery, and the final 4 hours actually ripping my guts out and giving me my frontbutt. So adhesions are VERY common and a pain in the ass to deal with. I'm not sure how well adhesions show up on a CT scan, as the tracer typically doesn't flow through the adhesions (i.e., lack of blood vessels).........but you can ask your Doc how he can determine if that's your issue or not. If they can image them, then I'd think they could go in laparoscopically and deal with them. But that's just a guess.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Bob and thank you for the info. I have a CT scheduled for the 20th and talk to my surgeon April 2nd. I definitely will ask questions. I just thought all this time it was normal. Thanks, I appreciate it. So this can be a common issue, can it get worse without surgery? Thanks, Walt.

I had a subtotal colectomy in July 2018 and an ileo for 6 months, then a reversal in February 2019. I still have soreness, but it's not unbearable and I can easily live with it. Bob's explanation makes perfect sense. I get cramping or gas from certain foods because of this new sewer system of mine, and I'm still somewhat in the trial and error stage.

Mountain - I'll be curious to hear how you make out.

Hi Bagface, I'll let you know - thanks. (April 2nd)

Hi Mountain,

Can it get worse, you ask? Depends on what's wrong with your intestines. What I mean is if you have/had fistulizing Crohn's disease then yes, it'll get worse. What will happen is the area where the two bowel loops adhere to each other will "dissolve" for lack of the technical term, and a hole will form connecting the insides of both bowels.......forming a short circuit loop of bowel. The bowel can then leak and cause sepsis........which is extremely painful. Don't ask how I know. If you don't have any underlying issues with your bowels and they were just relocated for another reason, then once the adhesions form they don't usually get worse. More could form, but the existing ones don't grow or increase in size.

Talk to your Doc and see what he thinks about adhesions. If he doesn't have a good answer as to why it wouldn't be adhesions then when you get your CT scan talk to the Radiologist (if he's there) or the Technician administering the scan (if the Radiologist isn't there) and explain that one thing your Doc wants to determine is if there are bowel adhesions. With that info the Tech or Radiologist may position you differently in the tunnel at times to image how the bowels move or stretch. I'd ask both your Doc and the Radiologist/Tech if the CT will reveal adhesions, and if not what imaging technique would. Also keep in mind the bowels can adhere to anything in your core, to include themselves, the backside of your abdominal wall or any other organs in the area (liver, kidneys, gallbladder, bladder, etc). I'm interested to hear what you find out.

Regards,

Bob

Hi Mtnman, sorry to hear you are having problems. It has been around five years for me and I have not had any bad pain. Glad you are going to get it checked out. Let us know the outcome, it may help some other people. Best wishes

Hi, I will do lovely thanks. 

Yes, Mtnman, I do continue to have pain four years after surgery. I have a lot of scar tissue and adhesions, and for me, it's a knotted feeling under my stoma and in the stomach in general. This is not a surprise as the reason for the ileo is the scar tissue and adhesions had already built up and caused most of my large intestine to become necrotic. Fortunately, my PCP prescribed pain meds to help me through. Unfortunately, the scar tissue and adhesions continue to grow and in my case cannot be removed.

Add note: My dr told me she is unaware of an x-ray that will indicate scar tissue and adhesions, however, by way of ultrasounds, CT scans, etc., they have determined a growth on my spleen and some abnormality in the liver (? I think). This may be due to the TPN. It doesn't really matter to me as I am not eligible for any surgeries.

Hi Mtman, I had my original surgery 35 years ago - a total proctocolectomy. A year and a half later, I was back in surgery for strangulated bowel with gangrene caused by adhesions. Two years ago, I had resection surgery due to Crohn's and adhesions. Now, my stoma works better, but if I eat a big meal, I get some pain on my right side. However, it doesn't last very long and isn't bad enough to take pain meds or go to the ER. I still remember the surgeon telling me after the adhesion surgery that I should be "good as new" as he gave me a lube job. I asked what he meant, and he said he lubed my innards with Vaseline. I don't know if he was joking or not, but no more surgery until 2 years ago.

Ron... he was joking. Or he better have been. Doctor humor... you gotta love it!! Yeah, adhesions are a funny thing. Why doesn't your bowel adhere to itself before an operation? I haven't checked the research on that one in a long time... but maybe I better have a chat with my Doc and see if she's learned anything.

Mountain... I mentioned adhesions as a cause of your pain because it's the most common and the simplest solution. But there could be a myriad of other things causing your pain, so keep an open mind when talking to your Doc. Armchair doctoring is easy and comes with no liabilities... actual doctoring is much harder, with much more dire consequences if done wrong.

Regards,

Bob

Hi nyt, thank you. I appreciate what you're going through as others because you all know what you're talking about. Thanks again.  

Thanks Ron, all replies help me understand.

Bob, your outlook on life is priceless. Don't change anything.

Mtnman,

Hope they find what is causing your pain and can easily repair it. None of this is fun anymore. Keep us posted.

Puppy

Hi and thanks pup, you know I will...Mtnman. :)

Hi MTNMan

My name is Marsha, and I've had my ileostomy surgery (total colectomy) for more than 55 years, since I was a "kid" of 15. My surgery was done in 3 parts due to complications... The first created the stoma, the second removed the diseased large intestine, but left the rectum intact... I gave it 3 years for the rectum to heal, but it never did, so the next year, I had it removed. That means that the same area (incision) had three major operations, I imagine that there is a lot of scar tissue underneath. But the worst of the "pain" I've experienced is just above the pubic bone, where the drains had been 2 of the three surgeries. When I exercised too hard, or was carrying heavy packages (like my kids) I'd feel a searing pain.... but it always went away when I stopped doing what I was doing. I do know that I have a very weak abdominal wall (from the gym and physical therapy) and pain/discomfort was very common in that area, especially when I was pregnant. I'm overweight now, but years ago, when I was thinner, I could actually see my side bulge and feel the "poop" going through the intestine on my right side (not far from my stoma). If I pressed my hand gently from my waist, over the flange to the stoma, I could actually press the stool through the stoma, into the pouch. When I ate too much fiber (back then I could), like corn or peanuts, I'd be more aware of the pressure/pain. I've had a major (very large) hernia on the left side of my belly, but as I'm not a good candidate for surgery (I'm 71, diabetic, and don't heal well) we're just leaving it as is. It's best to check with your doctor and ask a lot of questions. I've lived with these random pains for so many years that it's my "normal" now. But in the past, I did have X-rays, scans, or ultrasounds done, just to rule out any unusual issues. The ileostomy was a lifesaver for me, in that it allowed me to live a completely normal and relatively symptom-free (from disease) life. When you have questions, I found other ostomates to be very supportive with suggestions and ideas. Best of luck to you. Marsha

Hi Marsha,

Thanks for sharing. Where my two drains were, oh, it was like nerve pain for quite a while. The scar tissue where they sliced my hind end back open (to heal on its own), it feels like it's tearing sometimes but I think it's nerves growing back?

It's a journey. Thanks, Mtnman.