Abstract
Objectives: To study the pattern, causes and management outcomes of acute intestinal obstruction in El Obeid Teaching Hospital, Western Sudan. Patients and Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study. The medical records of all patients admitted to the University Surgical Unit in El Obeid Teaching Hospital, with the diagnosis of acute intestinal obstruction in a 10-year period were studied. The data were analyzed for gender, locality, causes, operative findings and outcomes. Results: There were 198 patients (152 males and 46 females). The age ranged from one day to 85 years with the mean age of 38.9 ± SD 21.9 years. Strangulated external hernias were the commonest cause (35.6%), followed by intestinal adhesions (18.2%) and sigmoid volvulus (11.6%). Indirect inguinal hernias were more frequently seen (70%), followed by para-umbilical (22.9%). Previously performed emergency operations as appendecectomy, Caesarean section and abdominal trauma were the commonest causes of intestinal adhesions. The overall mortality was 13.6%, mainly due to late presentation and scarce health facilities. Conclusions: Acute intestinal obstruction is a serious surgical emergency. In the current situation, the hospital facilities were scarce. A welcoming health delivery system providing mass elective hernia repair with health education will reduce this mortality and a lot of unnecessary morbidity. Keywords : bowel obstruction, strangulated hernia, sigmoid volvulus, intussusception, postoperative adhesions, Western Sudan. Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 3 (3) 2008: pp. 191-196
Highlights
The medical records of all patients admitted to the University Surgical Unit (A) in El Obeid Teaching Hospital, with the diagnosis of acute intestinal obstruction for 10 years between Jan 1996 and December 2005 were studied
The causes of acute intestinal obstruction in this series were shown in table 1
A 57% adhesive obstruction and no strangulated hernia among 56 patients were reported in a district hospital from Saudi Arabia[8]
Summary
Causes and management outcomes of acute intestinal obstruction in El Obeid Teaching Hospital, Western Sudan. Patients and Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study. The medical records of all patients admitted to the University Surgical Unit in El Obeid Teaching Hospital, with the diagnosis of acute intestinal obstruction in a 10-year period were studied. The data were analyzed for gender, locality, causes, operative findings and outcomes. Strangulated external hernias were the commonest cause (35.6%), followed by intestinal adhesions (18.2%) and sigmoid volvulus (11.6%). Performed emergency operations as appendecectomy, Caesarean section and abdominal trauma were the commonest causes of intestinal adhesions. The overall mortality was 13.6%, mainly due to late presentation and scarce health facilities. Conclusions: Acute intestinal obstruction is a serious surgical emergency. A welcoming health delivery system providing mass elective hernia repair with health education will reduce this mortality and a lot of unnecessary morbidity
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