Do Men Get Adhesions?

...an informative look by David Wiseman PhD, MRPharmS, Founder, International Adhesions Society
It is a common myth that only women are prone to adhesions. While it is certainly true that women have more “internal parts” that require surgery, which inevitably leads to adhesions, men are not excluded from the problem of adhesions. A simple look at the national statistics collected from hospital discharges (ICD9 codes) from the most recent data available (2001-2005) reveals the following:
Over 50,000 men were discharged from hospital in 2005 with a diagnosis of peritoneal adhesions (568.0), accounting for 28% of such diagnoses, compared with 72% for women.
Over 37,000 men were discharged in 2005 with a diagnosis that included the specific diagnosis of intestinal adhesions with (ie causing) bowel obstruction (560.81). This number accounts for 38% of cases, compared with 62% for women.
Men also accounted for 37% of discharges with a principal diagnosis (as opposed to an incidental diagnosis) was intestinal adhesions with obstruction (560.81). Their length of stay was slightly higher than that of women in 3 of the five years studied and their hospital charges exceeded those of women in every year by as much as $2500.
Over 2000 men and women died every year with a diagnosis of intestinal adhesions with obstruction, representing about 3% of the total discharges with that diagnosis. The contribution of males to this death rate was in every year slightly higher than that of women in proportion to their discharges, by 10-15% in the years 2002-2005, and about 2% in 2001.
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Thank you to the International Adhesion Society