Sounds boring and gross, right? I mean seriously, statistics about how many bellies get cut into every year? Ugh.
But actually, these numbers kind of blew my mind:
From the CDC, numbers of certain abdominal surgeries in the US every year:
Hysterectomy: 498,000
Cesarean section:1.3 million
From other sources:
750,000 gall bladder surgeries in the US each year (http://depts.washington.edu/drrpt/clinicalleadership/gallbladdersurgery.htm)
20 MILLION hernia surgeries worldwide (http://surgery.med.nyu.edu/general/patient-care/hernias/overview-hernias)
~100,000 to 120,000 radical prostatectomy surgeries in the US each year (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/questioning-surgery-for-early-prostate-cancer/?_r=0)
Over one million cholecystectomies in the US each year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laparoscopic_surgery)
~150,000 gastric bypass surgeries in the US each year (http://asmbs.org/2013/04/new-evidence-prompts-update-to-metabolic-and-bariatric-surgery-clinical-guidelines/)
And the list goes on. Obviously, this doesn’t cover all of the other abdominal surgeries that are possible to have, including excision surgery for diseases like endometriosis, organ transplants, etc.
All I can think of is all of those bellies that now have such an increased chance of developing complications from abdominal adhesions and how many of those people will suffer their way through the adhesions due to lack of information about how to take care of them. The suffering is so NOT necessary!
I think of all of this as I’m trudging through a full update and redesign of abdominaladhesiontreatment.com. It’s tedious, hard work to build as comprehensive of a website as I am trying for, but in light of these statistics I feel even more committed to it. I hope the website and my work serve as solid resources for years to come.
Author Profile

- Isabel Spradlin is a Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), and abdominal adhesion specialist in Portland, OR. She specializes in educating people about manual treatment (massage) for abdominal pain and dysfunction, especially when it is adhesion related. Please see the "Programs" page to see her offerings.
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