role of one-stage surgery in acute large bowel obstruction

A study was carried out in Surgical-Unit II, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Karachi from July 1994 to June 1997. A total of 29 patients of large bowel obstruction were selected for this study, who underwent emergency one-stage procedure [resection and primary anastomosis] for colonic obstructive lesions by our surgical team. All but one patient did well with no evidence of anastomotic leak. There were three wound infections and one abdominal wound dehiscence. There was only one death in the immediate post-operative period. The average hospital stay was 19.3 days. The commonest pathology was adenocarcinoma of colon