A SBO may be caused when an adhesion pulls or kinks the small intestine and prevents the flow of content through the digestive tract. Obstruction may occur 20 years or more after the initial surgical procedure, if a previously benign adhesion allows the small bowel to twist spontaneously around itself and obstruct. Without immediate medical attention, SBO is an emergent, possibly fatal, condition. According to statistics provided by the National Hospital Discharge Survey approximately 2,000 people die every year in the US from obstruction due to adhesions. Depending on the severity of the obstruction, a partial obstruction may relieve itself with conservative medical intervention. Many obstructive events require surgery, however, to loosen or dissolve the offending adhesion(s) or to resect the affected small intestine. Pelvic adhesions
Pelvic adhesions are a form of abdominal adhesions in the pelvis. In women they typically affect reproductive organs and thus are of concern in reproduction or as a cause of chronic pelvic pain. Other than surgery, endometriosis and pelvic inflammatory disease are typical causes. Surgery inside the uterine cavity (e.g., suction dilation and curettage, myomectomy, endometrial ablation) may result in Ashermans syndrome (also known as intrauterine adhesions, intra uterine synechiae), a cause of infertility. The impairment of reproductive performance from adhesions may happen through many mechanisms, all of which usually stem from the distortion of the normal tubo-ovarian relationship.
A more recent study suggested that the formation of "fibrinous" adhesions is preceded by the aggregation of cavity macrophages, that can act like extravascular platelets in the abdominal cavity.If this is allowed to happen, tissue repair cells such as macrophages, fibroblasts, and blood vessel cells penetrate into the fibrinous adhesion and lay down collagen and other matrix substances to form a permanent fibrous adhesion. In 2002, Giuseppe Martucciellos research group showed a possible role could be played by microscopic foreign bodies (FB) inadvertently contaminating the operative field during surgery. These data suggested that two different stimuli are necessary for adhesion formation: a direct lesion of the mesothelial layers and a solid substrate foreign body (FB). While some adhesions do not cause problems, others may prevent muscle and other tissues and organs from moving freely, sometimes causing organs to become twisted or pulled from their normal positions. Regions affected
Adhesive capsulitis
In the case of adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder (also known as frozen shoulder), adhesions grow between the shoulder joint surfaces, restricting motion. Abdominal adhesions
Abdominal adhesions (or intra-abdominal adhesions) are most commonly caused by abdominal surgical procedures. The adhesions start to form within hours of surgery and may cause internal organs to attach to the surgical site or to other organs in the abdominal cavity. Adhesion-related twisting and pulling of internal organs may result in complications such as  abdominal pain or intestinal obstruction. Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a significant consequence of post-surgical adhesions.