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3.5.4 - Ileus and Bowel Obstruction

from Section 3.5 - Acute Gastrointestinal Failure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

By
Charles Rich  and
Liza Keating
Edited by
Ned Gilbert-Kawai ,
Debashish Dutta  and
Carl Waldmann
Ned Gilbert-Kawai
Affiliation:
The Royal Liverpool Hospital
Debashish Dutta
Affiliation:
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Harlow
Carl Waldmann
Affiliation:
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
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Summary

Key Learning Points

  1. 1. Ileus is the absence of bowel motility and is common in intensive care patients.

  2. 2. Ensure early surgical input to all cases of mechanical bowel obstruction.

  3. 3. In adults, large bowel obstruction is most commonly caused by cancer.

  4. 4. Resuscitation and correction of electrolyte disturbance are required in all cases.

  5. 5. Untreated bowel obstruction leads to dilation and increases the risks of perforation and ischaemia.

Keywords

ileusbowel obstructionparalytic ileus
Type
Chapter
Information
Intensive Care Medicine
The Essential Guide
 , pp. 214 - 215
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

References and Further Reading

Bauer, A, Schwarz, NT, Moore, B, Türler, A, Kalff, JC. Ileus in critical illness: mechanisms and management. Curr Opin Crit Care 2002:8;152–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garden, OJ, Parks, RW. Principles and Practice of Surgery, 7th edn. Edinburgh: Elsevier; 2018.Google Scholar
Martindale, RG, McClave, SA, Vanek, VW, et al.; American College of Critical Care Medicine; ASPEN Board of Directors. 2009 Guidelines for the provision and assessment of nutrition support therapy in the adult critically ill patient: Society of Critical Care Medicine and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition: executive summary. Crit Care Med 2009;37:1757–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulson, EK, Thompson, WM. Review of small-bowel obstruction: the diagnosis and when to worry. Radiology 2015;275;332–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, P, Dark, P. Ileus and obstruction in the critically ill. In: Webb, A, Angus, D, Finfer, S, Gattinoni, L, Singer, M (eds). Oxford Textbook of Critical Care, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2016. pp. 856–9.Google Scholar

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