Introduction
Intestinal obstruction (ileus) means a stop in the transport of food through the intestine, which can have many causes and complications. It is usually an acute emergency, which must be followed by immediate treatment in hospital. A distinction can be made between mechanical and paralytic ileus (intestinal obstruction). The former is based on a spatial constriction of the intestinal lumen, the latter on a standstill of intestinal movement. A distinction can also be made according to the location of the ileus (small bowel ileus / large bowel ileus) or the age of the patient (newborn ileus / child ileus / adult ileus), as specific causes are associated with age.
Frequency
There are no figures available on the incidence, but it is assumed that 10% of all patients who reach the hospital in an emergency because of severe abdominal pain have a bowel obstruction (ileus).
These could be the signs of intestinal obstruction
There are a number of different signs of intestinal obstruction, which can occur in individual cases with varying degrees of severity. The most common symptom is severe abdominal pain, which is crampy or permanent and usually gets worse and worse. In addition, intestinal obstruction often causes nausea and multiple vomiting.
In extreme cases, vomiting of faeces may even occur. While abdominal pain and vomiting can also occur with a harmless gastrointestinal infection, vomiting of faeces is a sure sign of an intestinal obstruction. Other signs may be lack of bowel movement and when there is no more wind.
There may also be an increase in the circumference of the abdomen because no more air or stool can escape from the intestine. In the course of the disease, other, unspecific signs of intestinal obstruction may occur, such as palpitations, circulatory problems, dizziness or even fainting. Whether or not a person has an intestinal obstruction can usually only be determined by a medical examination.
It is therefore important to call an emergency doctor in good time or to go to an emergency clinic if there are symptoms that could indicate an intestinal obstruction. The fact that an intestinal obstruction may be present can be recognized, among other things, by abdominal pain, which becomes increasingly severe as the disease progresses. In addition, nausea and vomiting often occur, with simultaneous absence of bowel movement and lack of wind.
The abdomen often continues to expand in the event of an intestinal obstruction and can feel very hard. In the case of the symptoms described above, a doctor should therefore be alerted or consulted immediately, as the fastest possible treatment is crucial in the case of an intestinal obstruction. It is a potentially life-threatening clinical picture. Whether an intestinal obstruction or a harmless cause such as a gastrointestinal infection is actually present can usually be determined by the doctor by means of a physical examination and, if necessary, an X-ray of the abdomen.
