Laparoscopic surgery for small bowel obstruction
Iorgulescu, A.; Iorgulescu, R.; Iordache, M.; Ilie, R.; Dragomirescu, C.
Chirurgia 101(3): 313-318
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 1221-9118 PMID: 16927921 Document Number: 599944
At the beginning of the laparoscopic surgery, intestinal obstruction was considered an absolute contraindication for this approach, because of the high risk of injuring the bowel. Today, the increased experience allows to apply this method in certain selected cases of small intestine obstruction. We realised a retrospective study, over a period of 7 and a half years (January 1997 - June 2004), regarding the patients admitted and treated in our department for small intestine obstruction, both by open surgery (88 cases) and by laparoscopic surgery (11 cases). We compared the preoperative characteristics of the two subgroups, highlighting the importance of a careful selection of the cases for the success of the laparoscopic approach. We analysed the postoperative evolution of these patients (return of bowel function, postoperative wound evolution, hospital stay, socioeconomic reintegration), which allowed us to draw the conclusion that some of the patients with obstruction of the small intestine may benefit from the advantages of the mini-invasive surgery.