Having abdominal surgery can sometimes lead to chronic abdominal nerve pain or chronic pelvic nerve pain.
Causes
Sometimes, having surgery can damage nerves.
This can lead to pain after surgery (postoperative pain).
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For example, damage to theilioinguinal,iliohypogastric, orgenitofemoral nerveshas been linked to postoperative pelvic pain.
What Are Border Nerves?
With abdominal surgery, there is not always a simple relationship between nerve damage and pain after surgery.
Damage to a specific nerve is not necessarily the cause of all postoperative abdominal or pelvic pain.
That said, there are anatomical differences between people.
That means the nerves are not always in the exact same place in each person.
Even the most skilled surgeons could potentially sever a nerve by mistake.
Pelvic Nerve Structure Differences
Pelvic nerves are also in slightly different places or positions in each person.
In some people, the nerves sit under the abdominal muscles.
In other people, they pass right through them.
Some people also have more pelvic nerve branches than others.
That means avoiding pelvic nerve damage during surgery is not always easy.
Nerves can also get trapped after surgery (cutaneous nerve entrapment).
This happens when nerves near the surface of the abdomen become entrapped as they pass through the abdominal muscle.
Nerve entrapment is thought to cause around 30% of cases of SINP after abdominal surgery.
The worse the acute pain is, the higher the person’s risk of SINP.
Diagnosis
A diagnosis of SINP is not always easy to make.
In some cases, healthcare providers may not be able to pinpoint the cause of someone’s pain.
At that point, they would likely attribute the lasting pain to SINP.
They will ask you questions about the key in of pain you’re having.
Imaging
You may need to have imaging studies to look for nerve injuries.
Newer imaging technologies are being developed to get better images at the cellular and even molecular level.
They can see it by using anultrasound.
If your pain gets better after the injection, that helps your provider know which nerve to treat.
They involve injections of medicines that block pain signals from specific nerves.
A TENS unit is a battery-powered gadget that delivers electrical impulses through electrodes that are placed on the skin.
TENS has helped some people cope with intractable (treatment-resistant) nerve pain.
Surgery
In some cases, your provider may offer surgery as an option to reconnect severed nerves.
There are a couple of different types of surgeries to repair nerves.
During a nerve repair, a surgeon removes the damaged section of nerve tissue and reattaches the healthy ends.
A nerve graft involves using nerve segments taken from another part of the body to repair damaged nerves.
Prevention
Acute postoperative pain is strongly linked with the risk for developing chronic pain.
That’s why it’s important that you tell your provider if you’re in pain after surgery.
Talk to your surgeon about how much pain you’re free to expect to feel after surgery.
Keep a Pain Journal
Writing about your experience can be very helpful when dealing with chronic pain.
Seek Support
Talking with others about your experiences can help relieve the stress of being in pain.
Summary
Abdominal surgery can sometimes lead to chronic pelvic or abdominal pain.
Usually, this is due to severed, stretched, or compressed nerves.
Chronic nerve pain after surgery is sometimes called surgically-induced neuropathic pain (SINP).
The treatment for SINP can include medication, nerve blockers, TENS therapy, or surgical repair.
Acute post-surgical pain is strongly linked to chronic post-surgical pain.
Therefore, the best prevention is to manage post-surgical pain as well as possible.
More research is being done all the time.
The results of these studies can give surgeons better techniques to use to avoid damaging nerves during procedures.
When you’re considering or preparing for surgery, ask questions to ensure you are making an informed decision.
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