Smallbowelobstruction.net

Small Bowel Obstruction Symptoms

When small bowel obstruction symptoms appear is a sign that there is a blockage in the intestines, and an abnormality in the process of digestion. Bowel obstruction is a medical emergency and most of the time it requires surgery. Obstruction in small bowel can be caused by swallowed objects, Crohn’s disease, hernias containing bowel, adhesions from abdominal surgery or sometimes, very rare, by
carcinoids.

The symptoms of small bowel obstruction may include abdominal pain, vomiting or constipation or diarrhea. The patients may feel pain around the belly button and if the obstruction is in a more advanced stage the pain may decrease in intensity since the bowel will not contract anymore. However, pain caused by small bowel obstruction is usually intermittent, like cramps that last few minutes. When the pain is constant and severe in one area is a sign that the disease reached a more advanced stage and it is a medical emergency. Vomiting can also occur and the vomit can have different colors depending on the area where the blockage is situated. If the blockage is in the upper part of the small intestine the vomit is green, otherwise is brown. Constipation is one of the most common signs of bowel obstruction, but diarrhea can occur when the bowel is partially blocked.

Depending on the cause of the bowel obstruction there are different treatments to follow. Some of the small bowel obstruction, such as adhesive obstruction can be treated without surgery and also those caused by Crohn’s disease, peritoneal carcinomatosis are treated using a conservative, non-surgical treatment. This consists of the insertion of a nasogastric tube, correction of dehydration with intravenous liquids and correction electrolyte abnormalities caused by vomiting and diarrhea. Also the patients with severe pain are given pain relievers and antiemetics can be taken when the patient is vomiting. Usually, if the obstruction did not reach a complete stage, small bowel obstruction treatment may be the conservative one, otherwise surgery is required. The doctors can decide easily and precisely if the patient needs surgery by taking radiological images of the bowel obstruction on the basis of which they can make a confident distinction of simple cases that do not need surgery or complicated cases that require surgery.

Small bowel obstruction is the cause of 1 out of 4 acute surgical admissions in the United States. Left untreated, small bowel obstruction may lead to peritonitis, perforation, intestinal abscesses and it is fatal in 100% from the cases. If severe cases of small bowel obstruction are taken care of within 36 hours, the chances that the patient lives are 92%. After 36 hours, they decrease until 75%. Most of the cases of bowel obstruction cannot be prevented especially if there is no mechanical cause of the obstruction but in other cases treating the underlying cause of a related condition may help preventing complications leading to small bowel obstruction. The best thing patients can do is to go to see a doctor as soon as the small bowel obstruction symptoms occur.