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Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS)

Digestive Health | Last Active: Oct 29 2:54pm | Replies (1225)

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@jmendez37

Hi! so i was diagnosed with Mals a few months ago. I have been dealing with this issue since September 2023. I have been through every test possible so far. I went from 155lbs to 112lbs..Eating is very painful so now im at the point of food advesion..Knowing i will be in pain. I would rather starve:( I have been attending the Mayo clinic for months and with great experiance minuse my last visit went horribly wrong due to being malnurished and being told of many time delays. I have an upcoming procedure Medium Arcuate ligament Release. Doctor told me i have a 70% chance that it will work. Has anyone gone through this and what can i expect..the good and bad?

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Replies to "Hi! so i was diagnosed with Mals a few months ago. I have been dealing with..."

@jmendez37
Welcome to Mayo Connect!
You have had a rough time- I think all of us here have had a similar experience.
What happened at your last Mayo visit?
When I had the ligament release the surgeon told me I had a 50-50 chance of success. I knew I had to have the surgery because I couldn’t continue living like I was then.
It actually was 100% success.
Laparoscopic surgery. There was some pain afterwards- Gabapentin worked well. I assume it was nerve pain. They also removed nerve plexus.
There was no more pain related to eating!
However, the celiac artery had a kink from the ligament pressure and in 6 months I needed a stent to keep it open.
Good luck! Let us know how it went.

I had Mals surgery 4 years ago, with an experienced surgeon who has 90% success rate for mals. You should have other compressions checked (EDS, ACNES,NC,). There are more and also, mals can affect pots. Message me if you need more info. Facebook Mals Awareness has lots of information and people who have been through this for support. Best wishes!