title: Use of the long tube in the management of patients with small-intestinal obstruction due to adhesions.
abstract: A retrospective analysis was performed of all patients admitted to our hospital over a six-year period with a diagnosis of small-intestinal obstruction due to adhesions, to assess the efficacy of treatment with long-tube decompression. Of 127 episodes of obstruction, two thirds responded to nonoperative treatment. Factors that were associated with a greater likelihood of success with long-tube decompression included incomplete obstruction, recurrent obstruction, and passage of the tube beyond the pylorus. Clinical findings were relatively reliable as diagnostic indicators of strangulation. The overall mortality was 1.5%, with no deaths due to a delay in operative intervention. A trial of long-tube decompression is recommended in patients presenting with a diagnosis of small-intestinal obstruction due to adhesions in the absence of clinical evidence of strangulation.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D007421:Intestine, Small; D007440:Intubation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis