Natural history of patients with adhesive small bowel obstruction

BACKGROUND: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a major cause of morbidity and financial expenditure. The goals of this study were to determine factors predisposing to adhesive SBO, to note the long-term prognosis and recurrence rates for operative and non-operative treatment, to elicit the complication rate of operations and to highlight factors predictive of recurrence. METHODS: The medical records of all patients admitted to one hospital between 1986 and 1996 with the diagnosis of SBO were reviewed retrospectively. This included 410 patients accounting for 675 admissions. RESULTS: The frequency of previous operation by procedure type was colorectal surgery (24 per cent), followed by gynaecological surgery (22 per cent), herniorrhaphy (15 per cent) and appendicectomy (14 per cent). A history of colorectal surgery (odds 2.7) and vertical incisions (odds 2.5) tended to predispose to multiple matted adhesions rather than an obstructive band. At initial admission 36 per cent of patients were treated by means of operation. As the number of admissions increased, the recurrence rate increased while the time interval between admissions decreased. Patients with an adhesive band had a 25 per cent readmission rate, compared with a 49 per cent rate for patients with matted adhesions (P<0.004). At the initial admission 36 per cent of patients were treated surgically. Patients treated without operation had a 34 per cent readmission rate, compared with 32 per cent for those treated surgically (P not significant), a shorter time to readmission (median 0.7 versus 2.0 years; P<0.05), no difference in reoperation rate (14 versus 11 per cent; P not significant) and fewer inpatient days over all admissions (4 versus 12 days; P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: The likelihood of reobstruction increases and the time to reobstruction decreases with increasing number of previous episodes of obstruction. Patients with matted adhesions have a greater recurrence rate than those with band adhesions. Non-operative treatment for adhesions in stable patients results in a shorter hospital stay and similar recurrence and reoperation rates, but a reduced interval to reobstruction when compared with operative treatment.     

Small bowel obstruction

Background: This is a retrospective review of our experience using a laparoscopic approach in the treatment of acute and chronic small bowel obstruction (SBO). Materials and methods: Of 136 patients hospitalized in our institutions for acute (94 cases: 69.1%) and chronic (42 cases: 30.8%) SBO, from January 1994 to March 1998, 63 (46.3%) were approached laparoscopically. The etiology was accurately diagnosed in 58 cases (92%), and it was possible to treat it laparoscopically in 82.5% (52 of 63 cases). In the remaining 11 cases (17.4%), a formal laparotomy was needed for bowel resection, due to an ischemic small bowel or for malignant disease. Results: Overall, 82.5% of our cases were successfully treated laparoscopically. Conclusions: We conclude that, in experienced hands, laparoscopy is an excellent diagnostic and, in the majority of cases, a therapeutic surgical approach in selected patients with acute or chronic SBO. Received: 30 June 1998/Accepted: 12 February 1999     

Small bowel obstruction presenting with a rectal haematoma

We report on a case of an 85-year old man with an unusual presentation of small bowel obstruction. A palpable mass on digital rectal examination was subsequently visualised endoscopically with the appearance of a haematoma. The presence of a rectal mass as a presenting sign for small bowel obstruction is highly unusual and unreported in the literature.     

Small bowel obstruction: a population-based appraisal

BACKGROUND: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common reason for surgical consultation, but little is known about the natural history of SBO. We performed a population-based analysis to evaluate SBO frequency, type of operation, and longterm outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Using the California Inpatient File, we identified all patients admitted in 1997 with a diagnosis of SBO. Patients were excluded if they had a diagnosis of bowel obstruction in the previous 6 years (1991 to 1996). Of the remaining cohort, the natural history of SBO over the subsequent 5 years (1998 to 2002) was analyzed. Index hospitalization outcomes (eg, surgical versus nonsurgical management, length of stay, in-hospital mortality), and longterm outcomes, including SBO readmissions and 1-year mortality, were evaluated. RESULTS: We identified 32,583 patients with an index admission for SBO in 1997; 24% had surgery during the index admission. The distribution of surgical procedures was: 38% lysis of adhesions, 38% hernia repair, 18% small bowel resection with lysis of adhesions, and 6% small bowel resection with hernia repair. Patients who underwent operations during index admission had longer lengths of stay, lower mortality, fewer SBO readmissions, and longer time to readmission than patients treated nonsurgically. Regardless of treatment during the index admission, 81% of surviving patients had no additional SBO readmissions over the subsequent 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the 32,583 patients requiring admission for index SBO in 1997 were treated nonsurgically, and few of these patients were readmitted. This is the first longitudinal population-based analysis of SBO evaluating surgical versus nonsurgical management and outcomes, including mortality and readmissions.     

Small bowel obstruction in the elderly

The records of 56 consecutive patients, age 70 years or older, who were operated on for mechanical small bowel obstruction were reviewed to determine the effect of early operation versus delayed operation. Delayed operation was defined as a laparotomy performed more than 48 hours after admission. Excluding the 13 patients with hernias, there were no significant differences between the early operation and delayed operation groups in regard to age, cause of small bowel obstruction, duration of prehospitalization symptoms, degree of underlying disease, or physical findings on presentation--with the exception of a significantly higher number of patients in the early operation group who had abdominal tenderness. There were no differences between mortality and small bowel infarction rates in the two groups. There was an increase in the complication rate (60 vs 24%, P less than .05) and the mean length of stay (29.6 vs 20.0 days, P less than 0.05) in the delayed operation group. This increased mean length of stay was directly related to the higher number of complications caused by delay in operation. Advanced age in a patient with complete small bowel obstruction should not stay the surgeon's hand because delay only leads to a prohibitive increase in complications and length of hospitalization.     

Small bowel obstruction in the elderly

Hospital records were reviewed for all patients 70 years or older who were treated for small bowel obstruction (SBO) at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center from January 1975 through December 1980. There were 87 patients treated surgically and 20 patients treated nonoperatively. When the clinical evidence of strangulation was evaluated for preoperative reliability, 35 per cent of the patients had none of the accepted criteria for strangulation. Complications occurred in 60.9 per cent of patients following operative intervention. Wound infection was the most common postoperative complication and was related to wound management and to the number of enterotomies made at the time of surgery. Using delayed 1 degree closure, the infection rate was 6.2 per cent compared to 21.1 per cent when wounds were closed at surgery. The overall operative mortality was 18 per cent; advanced carcinoma accounted for 60 per cent of these fatalities. The mortality for patients with nonmalignant obstruction was 10.0 per cent as compared with 40.7 per cent in patients with cancer. From these data the authors conclude: that age alone should not be a deterrent to operative intervention in small bowel obstruction; the presence of a 1 degree or 2 degrees malignant process in the elderly patient is a significant risk factor for mortality; any patient operated on for SBO having an enterotomy should have their wound managed by delayed 1 degree closure; and because of the lack of reliability of the clinical criteria for strangulation, operative intervention in the elderly should be undertaken as soon as the diagnosis of mechanical obstruction is made.     

Small bowel obstruction after appendicectomy

BACKGROUND: This study analysed the risk of surgically treated small bowel obstruction after open appendicectomy. METHODS: This was a historical cohort study of 245 400 patients who underwent open appendicectomy and population-based matched controls, identified by linkage of computer registries. Analyses were made with the life-table technique, Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. RESULTS: The cumulated risk of surgically treated small bowel obstruction after appendicectomy was 0.41 per cent after 4 weeks, 0.63 per cent after 1 year and 1.30 per cent after 30 years of follow-up, compared with 0.003 per cent at 1 year and 0.21 per cent after 30 years of follow-up among the non-operated controls. The highest risk was found after operation for other diagnoses (adjusted hazard ratio 5.2 (95 per cent confidence interval 4.6-5.8)), followed by operation for perforated appendicitis (adjusted hazard ratio 3.5 (3.1-3.8)), non-specific abdominal pain (adjusted hazard ratio 2.6 (2.3-3.0)) and mesenteric lymphadenitis (adjusted hazard ratio 2.4 (2.0-2.8)) compared with operation for non-perforated appendicitis. The relation with age was J shaped, with the lowest risk at 20-39 years. Women had a slightly lower risk than men. CONCLUSION: The risk of postoperative small bowel obstruction needing surgical treatment after open appendicectomy is lower than previously thought. Perforated appendicitis, negative appendicectomy and high age are the risk factors.     

Small bowel obstruction during pregnancy

The authors report the case of a 28-year old pregnant woman with abdominal pain and contractions at 37 weeks of gestation. After labour and delivery, abdominal pain persisted and laparoscopy was performed. A bowel obstruction was diagnosed and surgically corrected. The authors discuss the clinical and therapeutic consequences of bowel obstruction during pregnancy.     

Small bowel obstruction after FloSeal use

Objective:

FloSeal is a thrombin-gelatin hemostatic matrix that is used to obtain hemostasis. There have been isolated case reports of FloSeal causing bowel obstructions, requiring surgical intervention. We report 3 cases of what we believe were FloSeal-induced small bowel obstructions (SBO).

Methods:

We present a series of small bowel obstructions after FloSeal use. Our series includes urology, gynecologic oncology, and general surgery cases at the same institution where the product was appropriately used and resulted in the same complication.

Results:

FloSeal was used for hemostasis in all patients. In each instance, a small bowel obstruction developed in 7 days to 9 days. All patients were reexplored laparoscopically and found to have an intense inflammatory reaction at the site of the FloSeal. The adhesions were lysed and the obstructions resolved.

Conclusions:

Although further study is needed, the common factor in all these SBOs was a hemostatic agent. In our and others’ series, the time to SBO was 7 days to 9 days. If an early postoperative SBO occurs after FloSeal is used, prompt reexploration should be considered.     

Small bowel obstruction and its management

We present a retrospective analysis of 105 instances of small bowel obstruction (SBO) in 80 patients admitted to our hospital over a ten year period. Adhesions accounted for 73% of the cases and secondary involvement by malignancy for 13%. Appendectomy, colorectal and other pelvic procedures were the most frequent surgical antecedents responsible for the adhesions. In the 86% of cases with a temperature over 100 degrees F there was significant morbidity, mortality and/or strangulation, and this sign also foretold a prolonged hospital stay. Leukocytosis, when present along with abdominal tenderness also predicted a prolonged hospital stay. Strangulation occurred in 4.7% of the instances and was accompanied by at least one of the "classical symptoms". Fourty-five percent of the instances were successfully managed by conservative measures alone, whereas 55% had had surgical treatment. The mean hospital stay for all cases was 15.3 days. The morbidity rate for this series was 21% with a mortality of 3.8%. The largest single cause of death was related to malignant disease (three of four cases). When post-operative adhesions were the etiology, the hospital stay was 8.5 +/- 1.3 days for those treated with conservative measures compared with 16.5 +/- 1.8 days for those in whom a surgical procedure was performed (p less than 0.0001). This latter group also has a higher morbidity (32% compared to 5% for the non-operative group).     

Small bowel obstruction by a congenital band in 16 adults

During embryogenesis, abnormal adhesion of the peritoneal folds induces a congenital band which can cause small bowel obstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1987 to 2001, 16 adult patients underwent surgery for small bowel obstruction due to a congenital band. There were 8 men and 8 women with a mean age of 59 years (range 23-90). None presented previous abdominal surgery. RESULTS: Six patients presented acute abdominal pain the month before hospitalization. Among the 16 patients, 9 were operated at admission, and 7 after initial surveillance. Suspected diagnosis before operation was small bowel obstruction in 8 cases (with a diagnosis of congenital band in 3); perforated duodenal ulcer (n = 2); appendicitis (n = 2); mesenteric infarction (n = 1); diverticultis (n = 1); cholecystitis (n = 1); and strangulated hernia (n = 1). During operation performed through laparotomy or laparoscopy, a congenital band was noted in 100% of the cases, associated with intestinal necrosis in 5. One patient died postoperatively. CONCLUSION: Because small bowel obstruction by congenital band is a rare condition, it represents a frequent problem of diagnosis. In this situation, the possibility of intestinal necrosis expose the patient to a possible fatal outcome.     

Small bowel obstruction due to a paracolonic retroperitoneal hernia

Hernias involving the retroperitoneum are unusual. The most common of these are the paraduodenal hernias. A retroperitoneal hernia occurring from a lateral defect in the colonic retroperitoneal attachments is presented. We believe that this case represents a newly recognized variant of retroperitoneal hernias.     

Small bowel obstruction as a complication of disseminated varicella-zoster infection

A 40-year-old woman with Sj?gren's syndrome and mixed cryoglobulinemia, treated with corticosteroids, presented with small bowel obstruction temporally associated with cutaneous varicella-zoster (V-Z) infection. At laparotomy a portion of inflamed, necrotic small bowel was resected. Cells in the margin of the lesion exhibited characteristic intranuclear inclusion bodies. This case report emphasizes the multiple organ involvement that can occur with disseminated V-Z infection. Despite the rarity of gastrointestinal involvement, this infection must be included in the differential diagnosis of the acute abdomen in patients with cutaneous vesicles.     

急性结肠癌性梗阻63例治疗体会

肠梗阻是大肠癌的常见并发症 ,尤其是在左半结肠 ,由于起病隐匿 ,发展缓慢 ,易被忽视。当严重堵塞 ,已出现典型肠梗阻表现时 ,处理较困难 ,预后也差。我们 1 995 -2 0 0 2年共收治大肠癌致肠梗阻病人 63例 ,现就其外科处理体会报告如下。1　资料与方法1 .1　一般资料　　本组共 63例 ,其中男性 49例 ,女性 1 4例。年龄 45 -80岁 ,60岁以上 5 1例 ,占 80 .9%。左半结肠 5 0例 ,右半结肠 1 3例。病程为 1 2h -2个月。术前明确梗阻原因 2 0例 ,剖腹探查 43例。1 .2　手术方式　　 63例均行急诊手术 ,术前经 2 -2 4h准备 ,包括胃肠减压 ,建立中…