This means that the passage of material along the bowel is blocked. Usually a mechanical reason is present. With small-bowel obstruction, one third of cases are due to a hernia becoming strangulated. This means part of the bowel becomes nipped in an external out pocket, usually in the front wall of the abdomen (commonly in the groin).
Adhesions (probably from previous abdominal operations or inflammations of the bowel) and bands (which may have been present since birth) can produce this sudden obstruction.
This greatly enlarged colon has lost its normal tone, resulting in chronic constipation. In the large bowel, colonic carcinoma is the most common cause, particularly in cases occurring past middle-age.
Intestinal Obstruction Symptoms
There is abdominal pain. This is often in the mid-abdominal region and is usually similar to cramps. Loud intestinal noises may be audible. There is a cessation of normal bowel actions, and in a complete obstruction no gas or bowel material at all will be passed.
There may be abdominal distension, depending on how much gas is present in the bowel above the obstruction. Vomiting is usually present, and the higher in the intestinal tract (i.e., the nearer the obstruction is to the stomach), the more profuse. Delayed vomiting indicates that the large bowel is involved. After a time, the vomitus may become fecal, and this is diagnostic of obstruction. X-ray examination reveals considerable amounts of gas above the obstruction, plus typical fluid levels.
Treatment usually constitutes a surgical emergency, particularly if the bowel is strangulated in a hernia. Although some cases respond to medical measures (those due to other causes), there is a fairly high mortality risk, and surgery is usually curative. Symptoms such as those described require immediate expert medical supervision, and hospitalization is usual.