title: Small bowel obstruction: role and contribution of sonography.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether sonography provides additional clinical information in patients suspected of small bowel (SB) obstruction. During a period of 30 months, in a prospective setting, we evaluated with sonography 123 patients suspected of SB obstruction. Sonographic examinations of the entire abdomen were performed with state-of-the-art, real-time, grey-scale equipment. Fourteen patients were labelled 'gassy' and no added information was provided following abdominal ultrasound. Sonography confirmed the SB obstruction in 82 cases with 5 false positives, resulting in a specificity of 82.1 %. Sonographic examinations were negative in 27 cases with 4 false negatives and a sensitivity of 95 %. The accuracy was 91.7 % when the 'gassy' patients were excluded and 81.3 % overall. The aetiology of the ileus was detected by sonography in 13 cases of paralytic ileus (54.1 %) and in 57 cases of mechanical ileus (71.4 %). It is concluded that ultrasound, which is a non-invasive, portable and even bedside imaging procedure, appears accurate in confirming a SB obstruction and in determining the aetiology of SB obstruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Caen, Avenue Côte de Nacre, F-14033 Caen, France.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Schmutz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benko
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Peron
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morel
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiche
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography