A bowel obstruction happens when a section of thesmallorlarge intestinebecomes partially or completely blocked.
Symptoms include abdominal pain, fevers, constipation, and vomiting.
Certain medical illnesses such asCrohn’s diseaseincrease the risk of bowel obstruction.
This situation is known as obstipation.
Complications
A bowel obstruction can lead to serious problems.
Necrosis leads to severe infections and/organgrene.
Aperforationin the intestine can occur, resulting in the leakage of bowel contents and/or blood.
A perforation is a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery.
In a mechanical bowel obstruction, the stool is physically blocked from moving through the intestine.
And there are several other causes and risk factors for bowel obstruction.
This can happen due to a blood clotting disorder.
Particularly if you have severe abdominal pain, you better be evaluated promptly.
After a physical examination, you may have urgent diagnostic imaging tests.
Depending on the results, your medical team may also recommend an invasive diagnostic test.
If you have an obstruction, your healthcare provider may hear high-pitched sounds while listening to your abdomen.
If the obstruction has been present for some time, there may be a completeabsence of any bowel sounds.
If your abdomen appears swollen or enlarged, this can also help with the diagnosis.
Treatment can include medical management and decompression of the intestine.
Surgery may also be used, though some cases of bowel obstruction can be treated without it.
However, surgical treatment is often the safest and most definitive option.
Medication
In some cases, a stool softener may be considered to help relieve the obstruction.
This approach may be considered if you have a partial bowel obstruction.
Sometimes an antibioticusually intravenous (IV, in a vein) is needed to treat or prevent an infection.
Antibiotics won’t dump the bowel obstruction, but they can help clear an infection.
A rectal tube may be used along with the NG tube to decompress the bowel.
A rectal tube is a narrow bore rubber tube that acts to pull out air from the colon.
Sometimes, cutting away an area of inflamed or necrotic intestinal tissue is necessary.
Recovery
It takes a while to recover after treatment of a bowel obstruction.
In the meantime, you will need IV fluids to maintain nutrition.
Once it’s possible for you to safely start eating again, your diet will advance slowly.
Often, the colostomy or ileostomy can be reattached with the remainder of the intestine at a later time.
A Word From Verywell
A bowel obstruction is not a rare event.
Be sure to seek medical attention if you experience symptoms of a bowel obstruction.
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