Eight years experience in management of post-operative small bowel obstruction in El-Sahel Teaching Hospital

In this study, 148 admissions of 113 patients were retrospectively studied over a period of eight years to evaluate conservative approach in managing adhesion ileus. It was found that non-operative therapy of up to five days duration can be used safely for the majority of patients presented with postoperative intestinal obstruction including those with complete obstruction. In patients who responded to conservative treatment, obstruction resolved within a mean of 22 hours and a maximum of five days. A trial of more than five days duration proved to be ineffective. The conservative approach resulted in 73% resolution of obstruction with no significant increase in mortality or in rate of strangulated bowel