Clinical outcome of conservative versus surgical management in acute intestinal obstruction

TL;DR

This study compares conservative and surgical treatments for acute intestinal obstruction and finds that conservative management is effective for most patients, with shorter hospital stays.

Contribution

The study provides evidence on the effectiveness of conservative versus surgical management for acute intestinal obstruction.

Findings

Conservative treatment resolved 86.5% of acute intestinal obstruction cases.

Conservative management resulted in significantly shorter hospital stays compared to surgery.

Mortality rates were comparable between conservative and surgical treatments.

Abstract

Acute intestinal obstruction presents a clinical challenge, and the optimal management approach remains uncertain. Therefore, it is of
interest to compare outcomes of conservative versus surgical management in 100 patients with acute intestinal obstruction. Conservative
treatment successfully resolved most cases (86.5%) and resulted in significantly shorter hospital stay. Surgical management was required
for complicated or non-responsive cases and showed a higher rate of postoperative complications. Mortality remained low and comparable
between both groups. Thus, we show that conservative management is effective for most patients with acute intestinal obstruction, resulting
in shorter hospital stays, while surgery remains crucial for complicated or non-responsive cases, with comparable mortality rates between
both treatments.