Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common condition requiring urgent attention that may involve surgical treatment. Imaging is essential for the diagnosis and characterization of SBO because the clinical presentation and results of laboratory tests may be nonspecific. Ultrasound is an excellent initial imaging modality for assisting physicians in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of a variety of pathologies to expedite management. In the case of SBO diagnosis, ultrasound has an overall sensitivity of 92% (95% CI: 89–95%) and specificity of 93% (95% CI: 85–97%); the aim of this review is to examine the criteria for the diagnosis of SBO by ultrasound, which can be divided into diagnostic and staging criteria. The diagnostic criteria include the presence of dilated loops and abnormal peristalsis, while the staging criteria are represented by parietal and valvulae conniventes alterations and by the presence of free extraluminal fluid. Ultrasound has reasonably high accuracy compared to computed tomography (CT) scanning and may substantially decrease the time to diagnosis; moreover, ultrasound is also widely used in the monitoring and follow-up of patients undergoing conservative treatment, allowing the assessment of loop distension and the resumption of peristalsis.

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Background: Malignant gastric outlet obstruction (MGOD) is an extremely rare expression of advanced extra-gastrointestinal cancer, such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix, and only sixcases are described in the literature.Because of the short life expectancyand the high surgical risk involving these patients, less invasive approaches have been developed over time, such asthe use of an enteral stent or less invasive surgical techniques (i.e., laparoscopic gastrojejunostomy). However, MGOD could make it difficult to perform an endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) for standard endoscopic drainage, so in this case a combined endoscopic-percutaneous technique may be performed. This article, therefore, aims to highlight the presence in the doctor’s armamentarium of the “rendezvous technique”, few case reports of whichare described in the literature, and, moreover, this article aims to underline the technique’sfeasibility. Case Presentation: The case is that of a 38-year-old woman who presented with MGOD three years after the diagnosis of SCC of the cervix, who successfully underwent the rendezvous technique with the resolution of duodenal obstruction. Endoscopic enteral stenting treatment with the placement of a metal stent (SEMSs) represents the mainstay of MGOD treatment compared withsurgery due to its lower morbidity, mortality, shorter hospitalization and earlier symptom relief. However, in patients with both duodenal and biliary obstruction, a combined endoscopic–percutaneous approach may be necessary because of the difficulty in passing the duodenal stricture or in accessing the papilla through the mesh of the duodenal SEMS. Conclusion: The rendezvous procedure is a technicallyfeasible and minimally invasive approach to the double stenting of biliary and duodenal strictures. It achieves the desired therapeutic result while avoiding the need to perform more invasive procedures that could have a negative impact on the patient’sprognosis.