Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part E (2019)

Author(s): Dr. TA Vasu

Abstract: Background: A large bowel (large intestine) obstruction is a blockage that keeps gas or stool from passing through the body. An intestinal blockage can occur anywhere in the large intestine. The large bowel obstruction may block the bowel completely or partially. A blocked intestine may rupture, causing a life-threatening infection. This study is intended to throw light upon the clinical features of large bowel obstruction. Aims and Objectives: To describe the clinical spectrum of large bowel obstruction Materials and Methods: The present study was a prospective study, conducted on 30 inpatients with clinical features suggestive of large bowel obstruction. Results: The ages of the patient are in the range of 20-70years with common age group being 51-65 years, mean age being 56,33years.Incidence in male (66.6%) was more as compared to female population (33.33%). The clinical features of pain abdomen (80%), vomiting (40%), distension (93.3%) and constipation (100%) were main symptoms in the study. Tenderness, guarding, rigidity and shock are cardinal features of strangulated obstruction. The patients presented with above symptoms around 3-10days prior to diagnosis. The most common cause of obstruction was malignancy and this constituted about 73.33% of cases of the study group. The second most common cause was volvulus constituting 26.66% of cases. The obstructing lesions were more common on the left side (76.66%) compared to right side (23.33%). Conclusion: Large bowel obstruction remains still an important surgical emergency that requires early identification and intervention.