Ileus tube placement combined with laparoscopy in the treatment of refractory small bowel obstruction: Case series and literature review

Post-surgery small bowel obstruction (SBO) has substantial morbidity and mortality. Even with refinement of surgical technique, SBO still remains challenging with the most common causes of acute hospital admission. Most SBOs can be managed with conservative treatment. However, the palliative methods may fail to relieve the symptoms in some clinical settings. Currently, laparotomy is the standard of care for difficult SBO. And laparoscopy offers an alternative approach for operative intervention in SBO and was first described by Bastug et al in 1991. Emerging literature demonstrated that laparoscopic surgery for SBO is less invasive, resulting in a shorter hospital stay than open surgery. And most recurrent adhesive SBO can be managed with ileus tube placement. This case series is to evaluate the efficacy of transnasal ileus tube placement combined with laparoscopic surgery in the treatment of consecutive 5 cases of refractory SBO post oncologic gastrointestinal surgery.