If its scar tissue you have a few options depending on severity.Even if it was scar tissue, surgery int necessarily used to treat it although no medication treat it.
If its scar tissue you have a few options depending on severity.
One, you can change your eating habits and hope for the best (not really recommended cause you have to make sure you're getting enough nutrients and water not to mention take into account your personal safety (you still risk a full obstruction) and general well being (you'll likely still have pain even with small amounts of soft foods passing by, really depends on the severity)).
Two, you can have the area stretched with a scope (really depends on where it is and the severity, can't do it in the small bowel).
Three, you can have a strictureplasty where the area is cut, pushed together and re-sewn (again depends on severity).
Four, you can have the area cut out via resection.
For inflammation you can try many medications that work for you like steroids (Entocort, Prednisone etc.) or medications that prevent more inflammation from happening like Asacol etc. There are many different meds to try. Often times its the combination of meds that give the best results. Talk to your GI about your options.
Thanks Kiny, we are basing this on the surgeon viewing the MRI and saying it was inflammation and not scarring. I did wonder if you could tell from that.Sure if it's just inflammation, any anti-inflammatory that works for crohn will tend to resolve it, doesn't really matter what it is, it just has to work for you.
But differentiating between fibrosis (scar tissue) and inflammation is incredibly difficult. It's often both.
Even if in a colonoscopy they only see inflammation, they have no idea what is under it, there could be thick layers of collagen because of the scar tissue, and on MRI they can't tell either, since if there is inflammation they can't differentiate between collagen strictures or inflammation.
It's easy to find out what it is by trial and error, if it persists even with drugs and you are still obstructed, it's fibrosis, if it resolves itself with drugs, it's inflammation.
Thank you Peace and Charm, the GI doc recommended the "Makers Diet". What kind of diet do you follow?In my case, 7 years after my first surgery my Mom passed, and through the stress of that I had n my first obstruction about 18 months later (scar tissue). I tried to avoid surgery, but wound up enduring about 7 horrendous partial to full obstructions. At that point, my surgeon said either you go ahead with this kind of life, or we take care of it.
So I opted for the 2nd surgery - this was 1989. They could not do a laperoscopy or anything like that, due to my previous surgery. So it was a another major surgery.
I haven't had another surgey since, though I have had occasional obstuctions (not as severe). I found that a significant diet change eliminated the obstructions altogether. Hope you get better.
Crabby, thank you for your answers. You gave the exact kind of information I was seeking. You are correct, it may seem like common sense, but this is a new Crohn's diagnosis and we are still learning the ropes. When my daughter was hospitalized 10 months ago, this partial obstruction left an opening the size of a straw. Since then, she has been on Pentasa, Prednisone, then Entocort. The partial obstruction has let up "slightly" but is still there. We weren't sure whether this kind of situation ever resolved without surgery. We are facing tough choices and hearing everyones experiences and solutions is very helpful.I just gave detailed information. Wasn't correcting you Keepingfaith.
It may seem like common sense but the question was still asked. Although sometimes the disease is too aggressive or too far gone where medication no longer has an effect and in that case then even if its just inflammation you will have to have it surgically removed to not just prevent a blockage but to kick start remission. Which is why I had my resection, the medication wasn't working anymore for the inflammation and the longer inflammation continues, the more scar tissue is causes.
Thanks Thermo, this is good advice. My daughter also had obstructive symptoms for several years and it went undiagnosed, even though we had seen many doctors. We will see the GI doc today and see about a medication change to see if we can stop the inflammation in its tracks. If not, it looks like surgery may be the only option. It is good to hear you are doing so well after surgery. Food is one of the great joys in life and it saddens me to see so many people suffering while just trying to eat.So the progression of Crohns is inflammation over many flares and months/years that gives way to scarring or stricturing which leads to obstruction. All of this is unavoidable it just depends on how fast each one progresses and also if you have one of the many other side effects of having Crohns. At a certain point surgery is the reality for nearly every single patient. As a person who had obstruction symptoms for many years and didn't know what it was I am going to tell you that surgery was a great choice, no longer do I have to live in constant fear of eating too much and getting pain or worse having to goto the hospital. A week after surgery I was stuffing my face like I was a teenager again it was great. An MRI shows stricturing pretty well so if they are saying its inflammation then try to get it under control as quickly as possible. Just remember the more flares and inflammation that occur the more chances it will lead to scare tissue and require surgery.