Spectrum of causes of intestinal obstruction in adult Nigerian patients

Abstract

Objective: To present changes in the cause of intestinal obstruction in an African setting.

Design: Consecutive cases of acute intestinal obstruction from 1985 to 1994.

Setting: Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Subjects: Adult patients with clinical and radiological evidence of intestinal obstruction.

Results: There were 99 patients (60 males) aged 15 - 101 years (mean age 45 years). The majority of patients were young and middle-aged adults. Main causes of obstruction included adhesion (N=44), volvulus (N=15), external hernias (N=11), colorectal carcinoma (N=10) and intussusception (N=8). Approximately twothirds of patients (28/44) with adhesion had had previous abdominal operations. The overall mortality was 14%, mainly owing to strangulation obstruction and colonic malignancy.

Conclusions: The increasing role of adhesions as a cause of acute intestinal obstruction demands greater need for routine preventive measures against adhesion formation.

South African Journal of Surgery Vol. 43(2) 2005: 34-36