What is the treatment of choice in postoperative adhesive intestinal obstruction?
Immediate surgery
Surgery after one week
Surgery should be avoided in the initial 72 hours
None of the above
The leading cause of SBO in industrialized countries is postoperative adhesions (60%), followed by malignancy, Crohn's disease, and hernias. The most common cause of small-bowel obstruction (SBO) is postsurgical adhesions. Postoperative adhesions can be the cause of acute obstruction within 4 weeks of surgery or of chronic obstruction decades later. Prevention of SBO may be essentially limited to decreasing the risk of adhesion formation by decreasing the number of intra-abdominal procedures (ie, laparotomies) and resultant scar formation.