Intrabdominal Pressure in Small Bowel Obstruction as a Possible Predictor for the Need of Operation

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common surgical diagnosis. Most of SBO are related to post operative adhesions and most of them resolve without the need of surgical intervention. The most important thing dealing with SBO is to identify the more complex obstructions that need surgery.

Some clinical, physiological and radiological signs are recognized as markers of a more complex obstruction.

The pathophysiology of bowel obstruction is explained as damage created by pressure on the abdominal wall causing ischemia. Yet there are no studies, as far as we know, that measure intra-abdominal pressure in SBO patients and it relation to the severity of the obstruction.

In this study we will measure the intra-abdominal pressure in SBO patients systematically and we will examine if more severe obstructions are accompanied by elevated intra-abdominal pressure.