MALS Awareness Day sheds light on underdiagnosed painful GI condition

Most people – including physicians – are unfamiliar with a condition called Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS), which causes debilitating chronic abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms. That’s why getting diagnosed with MALS often can be a long and painful road for patients.

MALS is considered a rare disease, affecting two in 100,000 patients, but experts believe many more are suffering without a diagnosis.

Tomorrow is MALS Awareness Day and anesthesiologists – who play a significant role in treating patients with MALS, from surgical preparation and care to chronic pain management – are bringing attention to this issue to reduce the time and resources patients spend getting diagnosed and treated.

Leading pain medicine specialist David Dickerson, M.D., chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Committee on Pain Medicine and member of the National MALS Foundation Clinical Advisory Board, is available to talk about the condition and the impact increased awareness would bring. He can discuss:

• How physicians can identify and treat the condition
• Common symptoms
• The treatments pain medicine specialists can offer, from biofeedback and relaxation therapies to medication and nerve blocks
• The role anesthesiologists play throughout the patient’s diagnosis and care journey