Indian J Gastroenterol DOI 10.1007/s12664-014-0471-1
LETTER
Retrospective analysis of operated cases of post appendectomy small bowel obstruction in a tertiary care centre Rajesh Reghu Thuruthil & Alfie Jose Kavalakat
# Indian Society of Gastroenterology 2014
Sir, The overall incidence of intestinal obstruction following appendectomy varies from 0.16 % to 10.7 % [1–3]. Adhesive bands are usually the cause of obstruction in these patients, and complete obstruction is the presenting feature in more than 50 % of them [3, 4]. We analyzed the data of all patients with intestinal obstruction, operated in our institution from 2004 to 2010 (7 years). During this period, 406 patients required surgery for intestinal obstruction, of which 84 patients had adhesive obstruction. There were 13 post
appendectomy intestinal obstructions requiring surgical intervention. In six out of thirteen patients, the admitting surgeon had performed early laparotomy after resuscitation (within 24 h of admission). All others were given a trial of conservative treatment before taken up for surgery (24–48 h). Conservative management included nil per mouth, nasogastric aspiration, fluid and electrolyte replacement, and monitoring. Age of patients varied between 17 to 52 years (Table 1). Male/female ratio was 8:5. Two of them were initially operated laparoscopically and others by a right lower quadrant
Table 1 Showing different characteristics of the patients operated No
Period after appendectomy
Time of operation
Type of adhesion
Gangrene
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 3 1 4 1 6 1
months and 12 days months and 6 days year months and 20 days months and 23 days months year