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Adhesions develop in 80% to 90% of patients who undergo open abdominal or pelvic surgery. In a 1999 study, one third of patients who had open surgery were readmitted within 10 years for causes possibly related to adhesions and 6% were readmitted for causes directly related to adhesions (NEJM JW Gen Med Jun 15 1999 and Lancet 1999; 353:1476). Laparoscopy, which has replaced open surgery for many procedures, is associated with ≈50% fewer adhesions, primarily at the incision line, but few data are available about the effect of laparoscopy on adhesion-related complications.
In this study, researchers reviewed the records of virtually all patients in Scotland who had initial abdominal or pelvic surgery between June 2009 and June 2011. Among more …