ABSTRACT
To determine the etiological spectrum of acute intestinal obstruction in our clinical setup Military Hospital Rawalpindi. Descriptive study. Surgical department of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from Jul 2012 to Jul 2013, over a period of about 1 year. A total of 120 patients with acute mechanical intestinal obstruction who underwent laparotomy were included in our study while those with non-mechanical intestinal obstruction like history of trauma and paralytic ileus were excluded from the study. All the patients were selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique. Emergency laparotomy was done and operative findings were recorded. A total of 120 patients with mechanical intestinal obstruction were included in this study out of which 93 [69.17%] were female and remaining 27 [30.83%] were males. Male to female ratio was 1:2.24. Age range of patients was 22-85 years. Out of 120 patients operated for acute intestinal obstruction post-op adhesions were found in 37 [30.83%] patients followed by intestinal tuberculosis in 23 [19.17%] patients, obstructed inguinal hernias in 13 [10.83%], gut malignancies in 15 [12.5%], Meckel's diverticulum with bands in 7 [5.83%], volvulus in 7 [5.83%], perforated appendix in 6 [5%], intussusception in 2 [1.7%], inflammatory bands in 5 [4.17%], trichobezoar and faecal impaction in 2 [1.7%] while in 3 [2.5%] patients no definite cause was found. Post-op adhesions are the commonest cause of mechanical intestinal obstruction in our setup followed by intestinal tuberculosis as second most common clinical pattern of presentation