Etiology of small bowel obstruction.

Background: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a major cause of morbidity and financial expenditure in hospitals around the world. The leading cause of SBO in the western world has become adhesions. The goal of this study was to determine the causes of SBO.

Methods: The medical records of all patients admitted to one hospital between 1986 and 1996 with the diagnosis of SBO were reviewed retrospectively. This included 552 patients accounting for 1,001 admissions.

Results: The etiology of SBO was adhesions (74%), Crohn's disease (7%), neoplasia (5%), hernia (2%), radiation (1%), and miscellaneous (11%). Patients with Crohn's disease were younger than patients with other etiologies. Surprisingly, recurrence rates were similar for patients treated operatively as for those treated nonoperatively with the exception in the hernia group where higher recurrence rates were noted for patients initially treated in a nonoperative manner.

Conclusion: The most common cause of SBO is adhesions followed by Crohn's disease and neoplasia.