Emergency Laparoscopic Surgery for Small Bowel Obstruction

Abstract

Diagnosis of strangulation is important for the management of small bowel obstruction (SBO). In case of SBO with strangulation, emergency surgery is necessary. Laparoscopic surgery may be an alternative procedure for strangulated SBO if the patient's respiratory and hemodynamic conditions are stable and adequate working space can be maintained after inflation of the abdomen. Among cases of emergency laparoscopic surgery on preoperative diagnosis of strangulated SBO, single band obstruction is the most common etiology and bandlysis is the most frequent procedure used. In case of suspicion of strangulated SBO, unnecessary laparotomy can be avoided by performing laparoscopic surgery Up till the present we have accumulated data from 29 emergency laparoscopic surgeries we have performed for SBO. The conversion rate was 24%, morbidity was 14 %, and intraoperative enterotomy was observed in two cases. We consider that these results can be acceptable. Emergency laparoscopic surgery for SBO is a safe and feasible procedure if the indication is limited to appropriate patients.