Review for 10.1186/s12876-020-01384-y (2020)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Delayed bowel obstruction after Seat Belt Injury: a case report  
 
Version: 0 Date: 12 May 2020  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Many thanks for the opportunity to review this case report regarding a patient presenting with 
delayed small bowel obstruction secondary to a previous seat belt injury.  
 
I feel the case is of a reasonable level of interest and there are some potential diagnostic pitfalls 
that have been addressed within the article which are important for clinicians.  
 
A few corrections I would suggest would be to clarify the time period of symptoms the patien t 
had experienced prior to admission. From the description it seems this was a chronic presentation 
with. a gradual deterioration and development of malnutrition. However, if this were to be an 
acute onset presentation would the authors suggest early surgi cal intervention (such as that 
usually undertaken in patients with bowel obstruction with no previous surgery where congenital 
adhesional bands are unlikely to resolve spontaneously) or should there be a period of 
conservative management and observation fo r resolution (such as the strategy utilised in patients 
with adhesional obstruction secondary to previous surgery). This could be discussed further and 
better reflected in the core tip section.  
 
The quality of English is generally very good but there are a  number of minor corrections needed 
to the english grammar. Also I think on line 52 on the second page of the discussion the authors 
mean laparoscopic rather than laparotomic.  
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the  authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
Not relevant to this manuscript  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the qualit y of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years receive d reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way ga in or lose  
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or sala ry from an organization that 
holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answ er no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
None  
 
Reviewer Publication Consent. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open 
Access  Creative Commo ns CC -BY License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ) if this 
manuscript  is accepted for publication. Any comments that I do not wish to be included in the 
published  report have been included as confidential comments to the editor, which will not b e 
published.  If you are not happy for us to publish this report, please contact the editorial office 
before completing  the review.If you wish, you can include your name in your published report. 
Please note you must  decide whether to include your name at the start of the process and confirm 
this decision whenever  prompted. If you change your decision later, we will not be able to 
publish your name.  
 
I agree to the terms of the CC -BY 4.0 license; please do not publish m y name with my report.  
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