Mechanical bowel obstruction: the Chandigarh experience.

ABSTRACT

Intestinal obstruction is a fairly common surgical emergency in India, but there is little data available regarding the spectrum of intestinal obstruction in India, or its related complications. This paper represents a retrospective review of 97 patients who underwent surgery for intestinal obstruction at Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India, over four years (1997-2000). The case files of all these patients were reviewed and analysed for patient particulars, pre-operative clinical examination and investigations, intraoperative findings, final diagnosis, post-operative morbidity, and mortality. The mean age of our patients was 39.46 years, with an overall male to female ratio of 2.461. Most of the patients were in the age group of 17 to 60 years (62.89%). A total of 107 causes for the obstruction could be identified at surgery, with intra-abdominal adhesions and bands (27.10%) being the commonest followed by obstructed herniae (22.43%). Strangulation was present in 21 patients at the time of surgery. This group of patients had a significantly higher post-operative morbidity than patients with simple obstruction, although no statistically significant difference was seen in between the mortality rates in these two groups.