title: CT diagnosis of small bowel obstruction: scanning technique, interpretation and role in the diagnosis.
abstract: Intestinal obstruction is a relatively common condition with diagnosis based on the clinical signs, patient history, and radiographical findings. Once suspected, its presence should be determined and if present, the site and cause of obstruction, and presence of strangulation should be assessed for the appropriate patient management. With the recent technological developments, the role of computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of bowel obstruction has expanded. The examination should be performed with intravenous contrast administration and thinner sections and multi-planner image reformation are recommended to evaluate a site of particular interest. CT is reported to have a sensitivity refer to detection of a small bowel obstruction at over 90% for complete or high-grade obstruction and to disclose causes of obstruction in 70% to 95% of cases. CT also provides characteristic findings indicating the presence of closed-loop obstruction and intestinal ischemia, which leads to appropriate and timely management for these emergent cases.
authors: Department of Radiology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta Tsukinowa-cho, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, Japan. akira@belle.shiga-med.ac.jp
authors: Akira
authors: A
authors: Furukawa
authors: Michio
authors: M
authors: Yamasaki
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Takahashi
authors: Norihisa
authors: N
authors: Nitta
authors: Toyohiko
authors: T
authors: Tanaka
authors: Shuzo
authors: S
authors: Kanasaki
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Yokoyama
authors: Kiyoshi
authors: K
authors: Murata
authors: Tsutomu
authors: T
authors: Sakamoto
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D007421:Intestine, Small; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*