1. < Digestive Health

Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS)

Posted by Kari Ulrich, Alumna Mentor @kariulrich, Dec 26, 2016

I am looking for other patients that have been diagnosed with Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome. Although it is caused by compression of the celiac artery many people experience abdominal pain after eating, diarrhea, food avoidance. Usually the first doctors they see are GI doctors. It is a diagnosis that is made after everything else is ruled out. I am curious if anyone else has had surgery?

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graceym1 | @graceym1 | Jan 30 4:23pm
In reply to @bfort "I am still in recovery. This is a slow process. It will be 2 months tomorrow..." + (show)
@bfort

I am still in recovery. This is a slow process. It will be 2 months tomorrow since my open surgery and its an up and down battle with pain. I can eat so I'm happy with that. Recovery can be long, but everyone is so different. These facebook pages saved my life. They provide so much support and answer so many questions, most doctor's can't.
I try to watch what I eat because your body needs t kearny how to accept food again with the new blood flow. Good Luck!

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Thankyou for replying. So glad surgery was a success and you can eat with pain again. That’s amazing. Do they say how long the recovery is? Hope you’re feeling better every day. 😊

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2 replies
graceym1 | @graceym1 | Jan 30 4:23pm
In reply to @graceym1 "Thankyou for replying. So glad surgery was a success and you can eat with pain again...." + (show)
@graceym1

Thankyou for replying. So glad surgery was a success and you can eat with pain again. That’s amazing. Do they say how long the recovery is? Hope you’re feeling better every day. 😊

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Without I mean. Sorry

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bfort | @bfort | Jan 30 5:46pm
In reply to @graceym1 "Thankyou for replying. So glad surgery was a success and you can eat with pain again...." + (show)
@graceym1

Thankyou for replying. So glad surgery was a success and you can eat with pain again. That’s amazing. Do they say how long the recovery is? Hope you’re feeling better every day. 😊

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Unfortunately, recovery is so different for everyone. . For some its only a few months. Others can be up to a year. I try not to focus on time. I try to get up each day and see how I feel. Somedays I'm tired and other I can walk miles. Today I tried hitting some Picklballs. It felt great! I was tired a little afterwards, but mentally it felt wonderful. I'll maybe try a game or two later this week along with some Tennis.. we'll see. One day at a time. ❤️

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1 reply
bfort | @bfort | Jan 30 5:55pm
In reply to @graceym1 "Thankyou so so much. Sorry you’re suffering with this as well. I’m glad the second surgery..." + (show)
@graceym1

Thankyou so so much. Sorry you’re suffering with this as well. I’m glad the second surgery helped. My surgeon only does the open surgery. She’s had the most success with it. I have to get the block sometime in March. I’m told you get some meds so you’re a bit out of it. I pray it works. I’ve had all the other tests as well. I’ll try Mals pals! God bless. Keep in touch!

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The block is not a big deal. A couple I had, they gave me sedation. The last one I had no sedation. I have a high tolerance for pain. I guess having all this pain for so long, you get used to it. LoL. All kidding aside, they told me if I don't take sedation, its better. But again, everyone is so different. Either way, it's not a bi procedure, so don't sweat it.
Please go out to the FB page. It was definitely worth it. You will never find a website with all this information. I suggest you go into it with a open mind. Everyone is different. Good Luck.. you can private message me thru Facebook Messenger if you like. Many of use keep in touch. Stay Positive!

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2 replies
bfort | @bfort | Jan 30 6:07pm
In reply to @lasirvent "I suffered from undiagnosed mals for 17 years. I had every gi test and sometimes twice...." + (show)
@lasirvent

I suffered from undiagnosed mals for 17 years. I had every gi test and sometimes twice. I’m so very thankful for this site as it lead me to Mals Awareness Facebook group. It’s easy to find information and ask questions. I also self diagnosed myself through information and researching. It lead me to a doctor who, 4 years ago, was one of the few doctors who treated mals. My vascular doctor told me he had done three with not much success, so I chose to go across the country to a doctor, who at that time had done over 300 with great successes. I was in so much pain, narcotics didn’t touch it. I had lost 30 pounds and was continuing to do so. My husband and I chose to have open surgery and I knew upon waking from surgery that the mals pain was gone. It took 7-8 months of recovery. I do have a lot of residual problems because it took 17 years to find a diagnosis, but I’m so thankful for the support and encouragement I get from others who have been down this long, lonely road. Just some advice, get checked for mals, nutcracker, pots, Elder Danlos and smas because correcting mals can sometimes cause other vascular compressions to show up. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Hugs!

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Have you looked at MALS PALS page, another great FB page.
I'm so sorry you are going thru all this.
I'm in my second month recovery of open surgery and doing ok but slower recovering then I wanted. ❤️
My surgery was also tough, but I can eat again. Still some days I feel like MALS pain is back, but I think its more incisional pain. Atleast I'm hoping. 🙏🙏 This is my second MALS surgery. I have also had over 40 tests and procedures. I am so done with anything else, so I'm praying nothing else occurs. I return to my surgeon in Ohio next month and he'll do another ultrasound to see how things are. Good Luck and hope you have continued success! ❤️

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graceym1 | @graceym1 | Jan 30 6:09pm
In reply to @bfort "The block is not a big deal. A couple I had, they gave me sedation. The..." + (show)
@bfort

The block is not a big deal. A couple I had, they gave me sedation. The last one I had no sedation. I have a high tolerance for pain. I guess having all this pain for so long, you get used to it. LoL. All kidding aside, they told me if I don't take sedation, its better. But again, everyone is so different. Either way, it's not a bi procedure, so don't sweat it.
Please go out to the FB page. It was definitely worth it. You will never find a website with all this information. I suggest you go into it with a open mind. Everyone is different. Good Luck.. you can private message me thru Facebook Messenger if you like. Many of use keep in touch. Stay Positive!

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Thankyou so much. God bless!!! Keep in touch. 😊

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bfort | @bfort | Jan 30 6:17pm

Thank You! ❤️ You Got This!

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graceym1 | @graceym1 | Jan 30 7:08pm
In reply to @bfort "Unfortunately, recovery is so different for everyone. . For some its only a few months. Others..." + (show)
@bfort

Unfortunately, recovery is so different for everyone. . For some its only a few months. Others can be up to a year. I try not to focus on time. I try to get up each day and see how I feel. Somedays I'm tired and other I can walk miles. Today I tried hitting some Picklballs. It felt great! I was tired a little afterwards, but mentally it felt wonderful. I'll maybe try a game or two later this week along with some Tennis.. we'll see. One day at a time. ❤️

Jump to this post

Yes that’s very true. Thankyou so much for sharing. And good for you. That’s so awesome. You gotta take the good with the not so good. The fatigue is annoying. But now I actually take naps if need be. And on good or better days I walk in my house and on mild days outside for a bit with my son! It’s so good to know there’s finally a name to all my symptoms. Very grateful for that as well as surgery that’s supposed to help a lot. 😊

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graceym1 | @graceym1 | Feb 5 1:16pm
In reply to @bfort "The block is not a big deal. A couple I had, they gave me sedation. The..." + (show)
@bfort

The block is not a big deal. A couple I had, they gave me sedation. The last one I had no sedation. I have a high tolerance for pain. I guess having all this pain for so long, you get used to it. LoL. All kidding aside, they told me if I don't take sedation, its better. But again, everyone is so different. Either way, it's not a bi procedure, so don't sweat it.
Please go out to the FB page. It was definitely worth it. You will never find a website with all this information. I suggest you go into it with a open mind. Everyone is different. Good Luck.. you can private message me thru Facebook Messenger if you like. Many of use keep in touch. Stay Positive!

Jump to this post

Thankyou so much for your reply y

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Ingegerd Enscoe, Alumni Mentor | @astaingegerdm | Feb 7 12:37am

I had laparoscopic MALS surgery 2015 - done by a GI surgeon at a university hospital. The MALS ligament was cut.
I noticed the difference at once.
The recovery was smooth- some fatigue.
At 6 months symptoms returned. The celiac artery had never returned to normal shape and was compressed. A vascular surgeon placed a stent that worked well. I needed a replacement 2022, successful. The vascular surgeon said he can keep replacing them if the artery gets too compressed again.
If for some reason the celiac artery won’t function I would need open surgery.

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