MECHANICAL DECOMPRESSION OF THE INTESTINE IN TREATMENT OF ILEUS

Abstract

The production of immediate and complete relief from distention of the small bowel associated with acute mechanical intestinal obstruction by performing enterostomy and stripping, or milking, the contents of the bowel at the time of operation (fig. 1) would be a desirable accomplishment if the necessary manipulation of the intestine were not accompanied by considerable immediate or delayed undesirable effects. The evaluation of the procedure on the basis of clinical experience has resulted in the expression of widely divergent opinions by observers who have had equal or comparable experience in the management of intestinal obstruction. Clinicians who have advocated stripping or evacuation of the intestinal contents at the time of operation for the relief of acute intestinal obstruction include Moynihan, 1 Cheever, 2 Holden 3 and Van Zwalenburg. 4 Morton, 5 on the other hand, expressed the opinion of physicians who are opposed to the method and asserted that emptying