A Descriptive study on Conservative Management of Subacute Intestinal Obstruction and Its Outcome in Tirupati

Abstract

BACKGROUND Intestinal obstruction can be defined as the partial or complete blockage of either the small intestine or large intestine or both, causing failure of intestinal contents to pass beyond the point of obstruction. Subacute intestinal obstruction implies incomplete obstruction. It is characterized by continuous passage of flatus and /or feces beyond 6 -12 hours of the onset of symptoms. We wanted to study the conservative management of subacute intestinal obstruction and its outcome. METHODS Data was collected from patients presenting to outpatient Department of General Surgery, SVRRGGH, Tirupati and emergency with the features of subacute intestinal obstruction during the period of March 2019 to April 2020 were included in the study. RESULTS The incidence is high in patients of age group 41-50 years with Male: Female ratio is 2.1:1. The most common presenting symptom is pain abdomen (92 %), followed by vomiting (84 %). In our study, exaggerated bowel sounds (60 %) are the most common physical finding. The most common cause of obstruction is Postoperative adhesions (36 %), followed by obstructed hernias (22 %). Out of 50 cases, 72 % of cases were managed successfully by conservative management. In the patients who were managed conservatively, most of them are due to postoperative adhesions. In the patients who underwent emergency surgical intervention, 50 % of cases operated on the 2nd day of admission. Most commonly done Surgery include Adhesiolysis (28.6 %), Herniorrhaphy (28.6 %) and Resection and anastomosis (21.5 %). CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that conservative management is successful in about 72 % of patients with subacute intestinal obstruction. Not all the patients attending the emergency ward with features of intestinal obstruction need emergency surgical intervention. Conservative management can be tried in selective cases in patients with SAIO, thereby reducing the rate of negative laparotomies and morbidity and mortality. KEYWORDS Sub-Acute, Intestinal, Obstruction Conservative, Outcome