Page 123 - Postoperative Intra-Abdominal Adhesions- New insights in prevention and consequences

Questions
How often during the past 2 weeks have you had pain in the abdomen?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you had a feeling of fullness in the upper abdomen?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you had bloating (sensation of too much gas in the abdomen)?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you been troubled by excessive passage of gas through the anus?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you been troubled by strong burping or belching?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you been troubled by gurgling noises from the abdomen?
How oftenduring the past 2 weeks, have you been troubled by fluid or food coming up into your mouth (regurgitation)?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you felt uncomfortable because of your slow speed of eating?
How often during the past 2 weeks have you been troubled by constipation? How often during the past 2 weeks have you been troubled by heartburn?
Answer
0. All of the time
1. Most of the time 2. Some of the time 3. A little of the time 4. Never
Long-term follow-up after appendectomy
cause. The last group was formed by all non-adhesion related problems. In 2010 all patients were invited to fill-out a questionnaire by regular mail. All addresses were checked at the municipal offices and non- responders were contacted again after 6 weeks.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was divided in two parts. Part 1 consisted of general questions about re-interventions and abdominal complaints. When mentioning abdominal complaints in the last 6 months the patient was
asked to fill out part 2. This part consisted of the gastrointestinal quality
of life index (GIQLI), an established tool for assessing quality of life concerning different gastro-intestinal diseases[13]. This questionnaire
can be divided in four subscales measuring different aspects of quality
of life; physical well-being, mental well-being, digestion and defecation
[14]. Gastrointestinal symptoms are reflected by the digestion sub
score consisting of questions about pain and fullness in the abdomen,
bloating, flatus, burping, abdominal noises, regurgitation, eating speed, constipation and heartburn (Table 1). These symptoms are of most
interest and therefore the digestion subscale was used for further 7 analysis.
Table 1. Calculation of the score: most desirable option: 4. Points least desirable option: 0. Points GIQLI digestion sub-scale score: sum of the points.
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