Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS)

When a celiac person ingests gluten, his or her immune system will attack against its own body's tissue. Whereas, if a person is gluten intolerant, the consumption of gluten will cause short-term bloating and belly pain. Unlike celiac disease, gluten intolerance doesn't usually cause long-term harm to the body.

MALS is Nerve irritation and or damage can cause disturbances with myoenteric electrical activity to the stomach resulting in the symptoms. MALS symptoms manifest as numerous gastrointestinal complaints and can range from intermittent mild to chronic debilitating that are triggered after eating or exercise.

I copied these definitions. Hope this helps.

What is the difference between celiac disease and MALS?

I had surgery with Dr. Hsu in Jan. 15, 2020. I was in the hospital for 4 days. We were there for 14 days. It’s been 4 months. It’s a roller coaster ride but I have no mals pain. I’m just dealing with ibs and healing. Have you checked the Facebook Mals Awareness group? They’re wonderful!

I am bringing my son to Dr. Hsu for surgery, and would love some feedback on recovery time after surgery. How long were you down/home and how mobile/active are you now, 4 months out?

No yet because she does have part of her bowel that is not working. She had major bowel surgery at birth. And recently had a partial bowel obstruction in feb and our peds surgeon said there was part of her bowel that is not peristalsing. SO we are having surgery this friday for that and if that doesn't fix it MALS is our next thing. We have been very adamant about looking back at her other CTs and MRI with contrast she had in the mean time. Such a waiting game

Hello! I am so sorry that you are going through such a rough time!
if you are looking for a pediatric MALS surgeon, there is an amazing amazing one at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Dr. Nathan. (https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/bio/n/jaimie-nathan). He has a very unique surgery method, and has a very high sucess rate. He is very deliberate and thorough, so rules out everything before surgery, to make sure that the surgery is necessary and will really help treat the symptoms. I can personally vouch for him, he saved my life.

While MALS is listed as a rare disease, Dr. Scholbach and I do not believe MALS is rare; it is uncommonly diagnosed because it is unknown.

Have you been to a Vascular Surgeon? He’s the one who ordered my CT and Doppler Ultrasound of Abdomen and pelvic.

Thank you! She does have that low back pain. She already has so many congential anomalies and they think that part of her bowel is not working from previous surgeries and that is what is causinf the pain right now. But who knows. You feel like you are in a hamster wheel just spinning around hoping someone will help. We have never seen her in so much pain. It's debilitating. She is on toradol and tylenol and something for SIBo and she is still at a 6 or 7 for pain. Since Covid is going on no elective surgies. As far as I am concerned this is not elective.
We think its MALS but nobody seems to want to order the testing for it.

I’m sorry to hear she is struggling. I had MALS with surgery at Mayo Rochester. 20+ symptoms disappeared. A year later had some return of symptoms at the same rate and time that my excess low back curved worsened because of hip dysplasia/arthritis. Found Dr Scholbach’s article about excess low back curve causing compression syndromes like MALS. My PT and I developed conservative management strategies and published them last week in a journal. Maybe something in this article may help your daughter. Not all MALS cases are caused by excess spine curve, but it’s worth a try before trying surgery. Hope you find some good help.
https://www.ejcrim.com/index.php/EJCRIM/article/view/1605/2056