A small bowel obstruction is a blockage of the small intestine. Sometimes the bowels can become trapped outside of the abdominal cavity within surrounding tissues.
Strangulation makes up about only one fourth to one third of the cases of small bowel obstruction.
To diagnose a small bowel obstruction, your doctor will review your symptoms, examine you, and take a history of your previous operations, previous obstructions, and hernias. If your small bowel is partly obstructed, the treatment is usually decompression. This is done by decreasing the pressure of bowel gas with a nasogastric tube or other special tubing. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics. Your doctor may need to perform surgery if your small bowel is completely obstructed.