“Small-bowel obstruction (SBO) is responsible for up to 16% of hospital admissions for abdominal pain with mortality ranging between 2% and 8% overall, and as high as 25%
when associated with bowel ischemia. Radiologic imaging plays the key role in the diagnosis and management of SBO because neither patient presentation, the clinical examination, nor laboratory testing are sufficiently sensitive or specific enough to diagnose or guide management. Imaging not only diagnoses the presence of SBO but also can aid in the differentiation of high-grade from low-grade obstruction. This differentiation helps to guide referring physicians between surgical treatment for high-grade or complicated SBO versus conservative management with enteric tube decompression.”
Surgical Focus 