A Study of Clinical Spectrum of Large Bowel Obstruction

Abstract

Background: Large bowel obstruction is an emergency condition that requires early identification and intervention. The etiology of this condition is age dependent and it can result from either mechanical interruption of the flow of intestinal contents or by dilatation of colon in the absence of an anatomic lesion. Obstruction of large bowel are contributed mainly by volvulus, malignancy and diverticulitis and is seen generally in adults and elderly. This study is intended to throw light upon the clinical features of large bowel obstruction. Aims and Objectives: To describe the clinical spectrum of large bowel obstruction. Materials and Methods: The present study was a prospective study, conducted on 30 inpatients with clinical features suggestive of large bowel obstruction. Results: The ages of the patient are in the range of 20-70years with common age group being 51-65years,mean age being 56,33years.Incidence in male(66.6%) was more as compared to female population(33.33%).The clinical features of pain abdomen (80%),vomiting (40%), distension (93.3%) and constipation(100%) were main symptoms in the study. Tenderness, guarding, rigidity and shock are cardinal features of strangulated obstruction. The patients presented with above symptoms around 3-10days prior to diagnosis. The most common cause of obstruction was malignancy and this constituted about 73.33% of cases of the study group. The second most common cause was volvulus constituting 26.66% of cases. The obstructing lesions were more common on the left side (76.66%) compared to right side (23.33%).Conclusion: Large bowel obstruction remains still an important surgical emergency that requires early identification and intervention