The short answer
Adhesions are bands of scar-like tissue inside the abdomen that can connect organs to each other or to the abdominal wall. NIDDK says they develop in more than 90% of people who have surgery that opens the abdomen. Many people never have symptoms, but adhesions can cause chronic pain or block the intestine.
NIDDK defines abdominal adhesions as bands of scar-like tissue that form inside your abdomen.
They develop in more than 90% of people who have surgery that opens the abdomen.
Adhesions are less common after laparoscopic surgery than after open surgery.
Radiation therapy for cancer is also listed as a cause.
On this page
Choose how you want to read this
The whole article, with every detail and caution.
This page is for people who have had abdominal or pelvic surgery for cancer. It explains what adhesions are, the warning signs of a blocked bowel, and why surgery is not always the answer.
When to get help sooner
Call 911 or go to an emergency department if you have abdominal pain and you are passing no fluids, no stool and no gas. NIDDK says these are symptoms of a complete blockage, which can be life threatening, and to get medical help right away.
Seek medical help right away if you have abdominal pain with bloating, constipation, an inability to pass gas, nausea or vomiting. NIDDK lists those as the symptoms of intestinal obstruction, which is the serious complication adhesions can cause, and says to seek help right away rather than waiting. NIDDK adds that a fast heart rate or fever can mean the blockage has cut off blood flow or caused an infection.
Some blockages can be treated without surgery. A blockage can also cut off blood flow and cause tissue death. It can also cause peritonitis, an infection inside the abdomen.
What adhesions are
NIDDK describes abdominal adhesions as bands of scar-like tissue. They form inside your abdomen. They connect two or more organs to each other, or organs to the abdominal wall.
Inside the abdomen, organs are meant to slide past one another. Adhesions tie them down instead. NIDDK explains these bands can kink, twist, pull, or squeeze the intestines and other parts.
Think of it as scar tissue in the wrong place. It glues together things that should move freely.
How common they are after surgery
This number surprises people. NIDDK says adhesions form in more than 90% of people who have surgery that opens the abdomen.
Having adhesions is close to routine after open abdominal surgery. Having problems from them is not.
NIDDK notes adhesions happen less often after laparoscopic surgery than after open surgery. Higher-risk groups include people who had emergency abdominal surgery. They also include people who had surgery on the pelvis or lower digestive tract.
For anyone treated for colorectal, ovarian, uterine, or other abdominal and pelvic cancers, that last point matters a lot.
Other causes
Surgery is the main cause, but not the only one. NIDDK's list also includes:
- Inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's disease, diverticular disease, endometriosis, and pelvic inflammatory disease
- Peritonitis
- Long-term peritoneal dialysis
- Radiation therapy for cancer
- Rarely, adhesions present from birth
Radiation being on this list matters for people who had both surgery and radiation to the abdomen or pelvis.
What they feel like, if anything
NIDDK is clear that many people feel no symptoms at all. Adhesions can sit quietly and never announce themselves.
When symptoms do show up, chronic abdominal pain is the most common one.
That is a real problem after cancer treatment. Chronic abdominal pain has many possible causes. Adhesions are also hard to see on a scan. Do not try to diagnose this yourself. Take ongoing pain to your team. Let them work through the options.
The complication that matters
Intestinal obstruction is the main risk. NIDDK describes its symptoms as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, an inability to pass gas, nausea, and vomiting.
If you cannot pass gas, or nothing is moving through at all, say so.
NIDDK says a blockage needs treatment in a hospital right away. Some people need emergency surgery. Others may first get IV fluids and a tube through the nose into the stomach. If the blockage does not clear, surgery follows.
NIDDK also lists infertility in women as a complication. Adhesions in the pelvis or uterus can press on or block reproductive organs.
Why surgery is not the default answer
You might reasonably ask why doctors do not just cut the adhesions away.
NIDDK gives an honest answer. Surgeons can release adhesions through laparoscopic or open surgery. But doing so may create new adhesions. Fixing scar tissue with surgery can set the stage for more scar tissue.
That is why NIDDK says adhesions without symptoms usually need no treatment. It is also why doctors weigh the choice to operate for adhesion pain very carefully. It is never a quick call.
Take that as reassurance, not as a shrug. It means your surgeon is weighing real factors on both sides.
Common questions
Does everyone who has abdominal surgery get adhesions?
Not everyone, but most. NIDDK says adhesions develop in more than 90% of people undergoing surgery that opens the abdomen. Having them is not the same as having a problem from them.
Can adhesions be prevented?
Partly. NIDDK says surgeons reduce adhesion formation by using laparoscopic approaches where possible, handling tissue gently to prevent damage, keeping foreign materials such as glove powder and lint out of the abdomen, and covering damaged tissue with a film-like barrier that keeps tissues separated while they heal.
Can they be removed?
NIDDK says surgeons can release adhesions using laparoscopic or open surgery, but notes this may generate new adhesions. That is why surgery is not automatic for adhesions that are not causing trouble.
How are they diagnosed?
NIDDK lists medical history, physical examination, blood tests and imaging such as CT scans, X-rays and lower GI series, and sometimes diagnostic surgery using laparoscopy.
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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