Content courtesy of Ivanhoe, for more information click here.

After surgery, more than 90-percent of people are left with a scar you can't see from the outside. The internal marks, called adhesions, can be very painful, but there may be a solution to heal them from the inside out.

Not long ago, the scars on Aimee Alexander-Klun's abdomen were far deeper than they looked. She lived every day in excruciating pain.

"No pain medication, no matter how much I took, would keep it at bay," she recalled to Ivanhoe. "I couldn't do anything without pain … nothing."

As a result of surgeries to remove cysts that started when she was 13, Alexander-Klun had adhesions, or bands of scar tissue that wrap around internal organs

"There is inflammation that occurs after surgery," Gerald A. Feuer, M.D., a gynecological oncologist at Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology, L.L.C. in Atlanta, explained to Ivanhoe. "Two areas, like a portion of intestine, small bowel large bowel, they can then touch each other and they can stick together."

"It was horrible," Alexander-Klun remembers. "It made you not want to eat anything, drink anything."

Even when Alexander-Klun's adhesions were removed surgically, the scarring and pain returned. Help finally came with an adhesive barrier made from sugar that is placed in the abdomen during surgery.

"The more surface that you can cover with the adhesive barrier, the more likely you're not going to get adhesions," Dr. Feuer said.

The film is designed to protect fragile tissue and prevent adhesions permanently.

"I remember the last thing I thought before I closed my eyes in the operating room is, 'God, please let this one work,' and it did," Alexander-Klun said excitedly.

Now, for the first time in 20 years, she is enjoying her two favorite activities: cooking, and eating. Finally, the adhesions and the pain are gone.

"My motto is 'life is good' and I live it to the fullest every day," Alexander-Klun said.

Adhesions are a common result from surgery. Most are painless. Dr. Feuer says the adhesive film, which is now FDA approved for treatment of adhesions, can be used in a variety of abdominal surgeries to help patients recover with less pain and fewer complications.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Southeastern Gynecologic Oncology, LLC http://www.segynonc.com

Seprafilm Adhesion Barrier http://www.seprafilm.com