Blocked Intestine | Cedars-Sinai

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What is an intestinal blockage?

If you have an intestinal blockage,
food and stool may not be able to move freely. It is also called an intestinal
obstruction.

When your intestine works normally, digested food moves from your stomach to your
rectum. Along the way, your body breaks food down into usable pieces. The rest is
eliminated as stool, or feces.

An intestinal blockage may halt this natural process. A complete blockage is an emergency
and needs immediate medical attention.

What causes an intestinal blockage?

The possible reasons for an intestinal blockage are:

• Abdominal scarring.These are tissue growths that force your intestines out of place.
• Hernia. A hernia is a
  split in the muscle wall of your belly. Hernias can cause bulges and pockets. These
  may block your intestine.
• Volvulus. This results when a segment of your intestine
  twists around itself, creating a blockage.
• Intussusception. In this condition, a segment of your intestine slides into another segment.
  This causes your intestine to narrow but not always be fully blocked.
• Scarring. When your body heals small wounds or cuts, scar tissue forms. This can happen
  inside your intestine as well. These scars can build up and create partial or total
  intestinal blockages. Scarring can result from tears in your intestinal wall or
  infections. These scars are called adhesions and happen in your abdomen after you’ve
  had abdominal or pelvic surgery. Sometimes adhesions from a surgery can cause
  problems many years after the surgery.
• Tumors. These growths can block your intestine.
• Swallowed objects. Nonfood objects that you swallow may cause part or full blockage.
• Meckel diverticulum. A small number of people are born with this extra small pouch inside the
  intestine. 

Who is at risk for an intestinal blockage?

You may be at risk of an intestinal
blockage if you have:

• Abdominal surgery, which can increase the risk of scar tissue or
  other growths
• Diverticulosis, which may cause inflammation, infection, and
  scarring and block the intestine
• Cancer
• Swallowed objects
• Scars from things such as radiation damage or Crohn’s
  disease

What are the symptoms of an intestinal blockage?

Symptoms of an intestinal blockage
are:

• Severe pain in your belly
• Severe cramping sensations in your belly
• Throwing up
• Feelings of fullness or swelling in your belly
• Loud sounds from your belly
• Feeling gassy, but being unable to pass gas
• Being unable to pass stool (constipation)

How is an intestinal blockage diagnosed?

To diagnose your condition, your healthcare provider will consider:

• Your overall health and health
  history
• The location and intensity of any
  pain
• Changes in your bowel movements or
  appetite
• Any other unusual symptoms, such as
  digestive sounds or feelings of being bloated
• A physical exam
• The results of imaging tests, such as
  abdominal X-ray, barium contrast study, or CT (computed tomography)

How is an intestinal blockage treated?

Treatment for your intestinal
blockage will depend on the cause.

Many blockages will open up on
their own with supportive care. It would be good to avoid surgery since it can sometimes
cause more scarring. Your healthcare provider might recommend that you not eat until
your symptoms improve or limit you to clear liquids. After this, a “low-residue” diet
may be advised to try to get things moving. This diet includes foods and liquids such
as
yogurt that will not add to the blockage.

Your healthcare provider may use a
small, flexible tube to take intestinal contents out until the bowel blockage is
cleared, instead of more invasive surgery. You will need IV (intravenous) fluids and
may
need electrolyte replacement. You may also need pain medicine.

If your intestine is fully blocked (no food or stool can move
through), you will need surgery right away. The goal is to remove the blockage and
repair your organs.

If a blockage is from a hernia, your provider may advise that the
hernia be repaired.

If a blockage is from inflammation such as Crohn’s disease, your
provider may advise medicines to treat the disease.

What are possible complications of an intestinal
blockage?

Complications of intestinal
blockage can include:

• Pain
• Unable to pass stool (constipation)
• Loss of appetite
• Inability to keep food or fluids down
• Fever
• Infection
• Death (rare)

Living with an intestinal blockage

Follow your healthcare provider’s
instructions. If they have advised you to change your diet as part of your treatment,
stick to the new plan. The goal of the diet is to reduce the work that your digestive
tract has to do while still giving you the nutrition you need.

When should I call my healthcare provider?

If you have symptoms of intestinal
blockage, such as severe belly pain, vomiting, and inability to pass stool, get medical
care right away.

Key points about intestinal blockage

• An intestinal blockage happens when
  something blocks your intestine.
• If the intestine is completely
  blocked, it is a medical emergency needing immediate attention.
• Symptoms of an intestinal blockage
  include severe belly pain or cramping, vomiting, not being able to pass stool or gas,
  and other signs of belly distress.

Next steps

Tips to help you get the most from a visit to your healthcare provider:

• Know the reason for your visit and what you want to happen.
• Before your visit, write down questions you want answered.
• Bring someone with you to help you ask questions and remember what your provider tells
  you.
• At the visit, write down the name of a
  new diagnosis and any new medicines, treatments, or tests. Also write down any new
  instructions your provider gives you.
• Know why a new medicine or treatment
  is prescribed and how it will help you. Also know what the side effects are.
• Ask if your condition can be treated in other ways.
• Know why a test or procedure is recommended and what the results could mean.
• Know what to expect if you do not take the medicine or have the test or procedure.
• If you have a follow-up appointment, write down the date, time, and purpose for that
  visit.
• Know how you can contact your provider if you have questions.

Medical Reviewer: Jen Lehrer MD

Medical Reviewer: Ronald Karlin MD

Medical Reviewer: Raymond Kent Turley BSN MSN RN

© 2000-2022 The StayWell Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional’s instructions.

Bowel Obstruction and Blockage: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatment

Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors

• What Is a Bowel Obstruction?
• Types of Bowel Obstruction
• Bowel Obstruction Symptoms
• Bowel Obstruction Causes and Risk Factors
• Bowel Obstruction Diagnosis
• Bowel Obstruction Treatment
• More

A bowel obstruction is a serious problem that happens when something blocks your bowels, either your large or small intestine. It’s also known as an intestinal obstruction.

If your digestive system comes to a grinding halt, you can’t have a bowel movement or pass gas. You might also notice stomach pain and a swollen belly.

A common type of blockage is called fecal impaction. This is when a large, hard mass of poop gets stuck in your digestive tract and can’t get pushed out the usual way. But when your bowel is blocked by something other than hard stool, doctors call it a bowel obstruction.

A bowel obstruction may be a partial blockage or a complete blockage. You can also have what’s called a pseudo-obstruction. This is when you have symptoms of a bowel obstruction but nothing physically blocking it. It can happen because of problems with your gastrointestinal muscles or with the nerves that control them.

Signs of an intestinal blockage will depend on how severe the obstruction is. But it almost always comes with belly pain, usually around your belly button, and cramping. Other signs include:

• Constipation
• Can’t pass gas
• Lack of appetite
• Nausea or vomiting
• A hard, swollen belly
• Diarrhea (with a partial blockage)

If you’ve been constipated and have any of these symptoms, contact your doctor right away. They’ll let you know what to do, including whether to call 911.

Many people with bowel obstructions are older and may have other serious illnesses, so a bowel obstruction may be life-threatening. You’ll most likely need to go to the hospital for treatment.

Your bowel could become blocked in several ways:

• Part of your bowel may get twisted, which can close it off and keep anything from passing through.
• It can get inflamed and swell up.
• Part of your intestine can slide into another part like a telescope (intussusception).
• Scar tissue or a hernia could make your bowel too narrow for anything to pass through.
• A tumor or other type of growth inside your bowel could block it.
• Damaged blood vessels leading to the bowel can cause some bowel tissue to die.

In many cases, inflammation, surgeries, or cancer can cause a bowel obstruction. It’s more likely to happen in older people.

Bowel obstructions can happen in your small or large intestine, but they’re more likely to be in the small intestine. You might be at higher risk if you have:

• Crohn’s disease
• Diverticulitis
• Hernia
• Colon cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Scar tissue from surgery
• Radiation to your belly
• Lung cancer, breast cancer, or melanoma that’s spread to your bowel

Your doctor will ask about your medical history, including whether you’ve been constipated, if you’ve had cancer, and what new symptoms you’ve had. They also may:

• Do a physical exam to see if you have pain in your belly, if you’re able to pass gas, or if they can feel a lump in your belly
• Order blood tests
• Order urine tests
• Order a CT scan or an X-ray to look for a blockage
• Give you a barium enema. They’ll put a special liquid that contains barium (a whitish-silver metal) into your rectum. It will spread into your bowels and show on an X-ray as a bright area. If there’s a blockage, the barium may show it.

You’ll probably need to go to the hospital for treatment. Your doctor will give you medicine and fluids through a vein (intravenous or IV). They may also run a thin tube through your nose and into your stomach. This is called a nasogastric (NG) tube. It lets out fluids and gas to ease your symptoms.

Most partial blockages get better on their own. Your doctor may give you a special diet that’s easier on your intestines.

Enemas of air or fluid can help clear blockages by raising the pressure inside your bowels.

A mesh tube called a stent is a safe option for people who are too sick for surgery. Your doctor puts it in your intestine to force the bowel open. Some people may not need anything more than a stent. Others may need surgery after they become stable.

Surgery is usually the best treatment for a totally blocked intestine when your bowel is damaged. Your doctor can treat the cause of the obstruction or take out the blocked area and any damaged tissue.

If you have surgery, you may need a colostomy or ileostomy. After your doctor takes out the damaged part of your intestine, they sew the rest to an opening in your skin. Poop exits your body through this opening and goes into a disposable bag. In some cases, your intestines can be reattached after you get better.

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Intestinal obstruction – Diseases – causes, symptoms, diagnosis in St.

Petersburg

Intestinal obstruction is a disease in which the movement of food through the intestines stops partially or completely. Most often, intestinal obstruction occurs in the elderly, as well as in those who have undergone surgery on the intestines or stomach.

Causes of intestinal obstruction:

There can be various causes for the occurrence of intestinal obstruction:

• The presence of a tumor or a foreign body in the intestine
• Kinking or compression of the intestine
• A sharp weakening of the contractions of the intestinal wall due to the use of certain medications

Today, intestinal obstruction is considered one of the most dangerous diseases of the abdominal cavity. According to the clinical picture, the following types of the disease are distinguished: acute intestinal obstruction, chronic and recurrent obstruction. Also, intestinal obstruction can be congenital or acquired. Congenital obstruction occurs due to malformations of the intestine. And all other species are acquired. According to the mechanism of occurrence, dynamic intestinal obstruction and mechanical obstruction are classified. In turn, dynamic intestinal obstruction is divided into spastic and paralytic forms. And mechanical obstruction can be obstructive or strangulation. One of the most common types of this disease is adhesive intestinal obstruction, the cause of which is hemorrhage or abdominal trauma, as well as previous peritonitis.

Symptoms of intestinal obstruction

Symptoms of the disease also depend on the form of obstruction. In the spastic form of dynamic obstruction, a spastic contraction of a small area of ​​the intestine occurs, and in the paralytic form, paralysis of the intestinal musculature occurs over a large area. Symptoms in these forms of obstruction are varied: bloating, lowering blood pressure, tachycardia, lack of peristalsis, irritation of the peritoneum. In many cases, vomiting occurs and, due to the loss of a large amount of fluid, the patient’s body is dehydrated.

In case of a mechanical form of intestinal obstruction, the symptoms are similar to those of dynamic obstruction, but more pronounced. The main symptom is intense pain in the abdomen, at the site of blockage of the intestine, having a cramping character. If intestinal volvulus occurs, the pain can be so severe that the patient may experience a state of shock. Also a symptom of mechanical obstruction is constant vomiting. Quite often in patients with intestinal obstruction, gas and stool retention occurs. With low obstruction, all urges to defecate are unsuccessful, and taking laxatives further worsens the condition. With high obstruction, the use of enemas allows you to clean the underlying sections of the intestine, and at the same time, gases and feces are discharged in large quantities. But the general condition of the patient does not improve. In order to confirm the diagnosis, the patient performs an X-ray examination of the abdominal cavity. With intestinal obstruction in children, a study is performed using magnetic resonance imaging.

Treatment of intestinal obstruction

Intestinal obstruction is treated only by surgery. If the patient has no symptoms of diffuse peritonitis, then the treatment of intestinal obstruction primarily consists in conducting cleansing enemas. When the gases and feces leave, the swelling of the intestine disappears and the pain subsides, the patient can undergo surgery. Also during the operation, the patient is intravenously injected with a glucose solution and a blood transfusion is performed.

Surgery for intestinal obstruction is performed under general anesthesia. In the postoperative period during the first day, the patient is aspirated intestinal and gastric contents. In the future, activities are carried out that contribute to the restoration of intestinal motility.

If you suspect the presence of this disease, you can consult with the proctologist of our clinic.

If you have any questions, please call us: +7 (812) 603-44-71
Administrators of the medical center “Tauras-Med” are always ready to advise you.

Our specialists:

Intestinal obstruction

Intestinal obstruction is an obstruction or difficulty in the movement of food masses through the intestinal tube.

This occurs as a result of closing its lumen with a fecal stone, a tumor, and worms.

In the people, not quite correctly, it is called “volvulus of the intestines.”

Violation of the patency of certain parts of the intestine may be due to post-operative adhesions or as a result of an abdominal injury.

Often it can be caused by compression as a result of spasms, circulatory disorders and nervous regulation.

This is a very serious disease that begins to manifest itself primarily with severe cramping pains, which are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, stool retention and flatus.

Diagnosis of intestinal obstruction

Since the violation of food evacuation can be caused by a number of factors, in the diagnosis it is necessary to take into account the data of both the direct examination of the patient by the surgeon and the results of instrumental studies:

• radiography
• barium enema
• colonoscopy
• Ultrasound and MRI.

In some cases of intestinal obstruction, conservative tactics are possible, in other cases, surgical treatment is performed, where the goal is to restore the movement of the contents through the intestines or its external removal, removal of a non-viable part of the intestine.

Signs of intestinal obstruction

Almost always, intestinal obstruction makes itself felt with acute pain. Figuratively speaking “intestinal cry”.

Along with a painful attack, signs of shock appear: pale skin, cold sweat, hypotension, tachycardia.

The pain syndrome can last for several hours, after which a period of imaginary well-being begins, the pain recedes.

A decrease in pain can dull the patient’s vigilance, but this is an insidious sign that indicates gangrene of the walls of the intestinal necrosis.

The patient begins to notice signs of intoxication – nausea, vomiting. Profuse vomiting, but no relief.

The appearance in the vomit of a fecal component with an unpleasant odor indicates the location of the obstruction in the lower sections of the small intestine.

A typical phenomenon is asymmetric bloating and belly and constipation.

If you do not contact the medical center in time, a sad outcome may occur – the development of peritonitis, inflammation of the peritoneum, which is a deadly complication.

From the first, painful signs, to peritonitis, only 48 hours can pass. In this regard, attempts to relieve pain with analgesics and local “distracting” agents are unacceptable.

With the development of obstruction, immediate hospitalization of the patient is indicated.

Surgical treatment of intestinal obstruction

Before the arrival of the ambulance specialists, it is absolutely contraindicated to take painkillers and antispasmodics, enemas and gastric lavage.

If peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum) has not yet begun, then in a hospital, the gastrointestinal contents are removed through a probe. If necessary, a siphon enema is given. Pain therapy is prescribed. Measures are being taken to restore the water-salt balance.

At the same time, the causes of obstruction are diagnosed.

With mechanical obstruction, surgical intervention performed under anesthesia is clearly indicated. Resection (removal) of the affected area of ​​the intestine, removal of a mechanical obstacle, untwisting of intestinal loops, dissection of adhesions and other surgical actions are performed, depending on the causes and location of the obstruction.

If the obstruction is caused by a tumor process, then the operation is aimed at removing the tumor. In this case, a temporary colonostomy is applied.

In the postoperative period, compensation for blood loss, detoxification, antibiotic therapy, correction of protein and electrolyte balance, and stimulation of intestinal motility are carried out.

With timely treatment to surgeons, the prognosis for recovery is favorable.

The postoperative period and hospital stay in this case takes an average of ten days.