Understanding the bowel obstruction problem

Abstract Tools to cope more effectively with the bowel obstruction problem have been gradually evolving over the past four decades. It is possible to recognize most varieties of acute intestinal obstruction early enough to salvage the patient from the threat of a disorder that a few decades ago commanded a forbidding mortality. Great intestinal distention does not loom as difficult a problem today as it did four decades ago. The large residual mortality of intestinal obstruction today concerns primarily strangulating varieties. In fact, more than half the deaths from intestinal obstruction derive from the profession's failure to deal promptly with strangulated hernias and with internal strangulations before the bowel becomes nonviable. The current achievement with intussusception contrasts strikingly with our failure to deal competently with other strangulating varieties of intestinal obstruction. So similarly, the accomplishment with congenital intestinal atresia bespeaks the finesse of modern-day surgeons in coping with anastomoses of small tubular structures. The profession needs to take a more serious interest in intubation technics in dealing with intestinal distention, to which developments my colleagues, Doctors Arnold Leonard and Richard Edlich, have made significant contributions. The team approach to the problem of intestinal obstruction is essential. Every hospital with an interest in intestinal obstruction should have on its Bowel Obstruction Team an intestinal intubator with both interest and expertise. Leonard and Edlich and others who have achieved striking success with intestinal decompression by per oral intubation have a responsibility to train intubators and to transmit their expertise to others who can carry on. The problem in many respects is not unlike the history of utilization of gastroscopy for diagnosis. Only within the past decade have most American hospitals enjoyed ready access to competent gastroscopists, despite the fact that Mikulicz's first effort with gastroscopy traces back more than a century. It is important to preserve the skill and expertise that experienced intubators have acquired. Their lessons and experience will be lost unless transmitted to younger professional associates. Early diagnosis, prompt surgical management of all strangulated hernias, and per oral decompression of the distended small bowel prior to and/or at operation in all simple obstructions are fundamental criteria for success in any plan of treatment. When the obstruction is complete, after operative decompression, the obstructing mechanism must be removed surgically. For incomplete simple obstructions of the small intestine following adequate decompression, operation may not be necessary. Most instances of paralytic ileus, not septic in nature, respond favorably to conservative management. In colic obstructions, early decompression proximal to the obstruction is indicated. Effective intestinal decompression, preserving the sterility of the peritoneal cavity lies at the root of the matter. This recounting of a long experience in attempting to understand the bowel obstruction problem suggests that clinical observation, reinforced by experimental studies, is a useful tool in lending a forward thrust to improved accomplishment.