Pascal Frey (@alpascal)
asks, While reading your posts on Twitter I stumbled upon "Ask
SkepticalScalpel," and I really like your idea. As a medically and
technically interested resident I always like to ask many questions and have
only little time (and experience) to find (or get) good answers. So here's my
first question for you: is there any good data on the outcome comparing
conservative vs. surgical treatment of small intestine ileus (of any form or
origin, e.g. due to adhesions)?
Good question. It's a topic that I've always been
interested in and it's about the third most common illness I see. The short
answer is "No." I am not aware of any quality study comparing the
results of surgery vs. observation for small bowel obstruction.
Management depends on the cause of the small bowel obstruction.
Obstruction due to hernia or tumor almost always requires surgery. Obstruction
secondary to adhesions responds to observation, bowel rest, NG suction and IV
hydration in about 75% of cases. Early postop bowel obstruction or ileus is a
big problem and nearly always gets better without re-operation.
The hardest decisions are who needs an operation and when to operate. If one waits
for fever, tachycardia, localized pain, elevated WBC or metabolic acidosis to
operate, it’s often too late and a resection of part of the intestine will be
necessary. There are numerous papers on this subject, but it always comes down
to each case being handled by almost instinct.
Outcomes are hard to compare because a randomized
trial would be difficult to do because of the diverse nature of the patients
and the types of obstruction.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be more definitive. Thanks for
your interest.
