• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.233-240
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• 2020

Objectives: This report presents a case using acupuncture and moxibustion to treat postoperative adhesive small bowel obstruction. Case Presentation: A 62-year-old male with two previous intra-abdominal surgeries, complaining of abdominal pain, abdominal distention, and general weakness, visited Korean medicine hospital. He was suffering from small bowel obstruction that had not improve for three weeks. Methods: The patient was diagnosed with postoperative adhesive small bowel obstruction. The patient received acupuncture and moxibustion in addition to intravenous fluid treatment. The patient underwent radiologic testing on a daily basis. Results: The symptoms improved quickly with the treatment, including acupuncture and moxibustion. He was able to start eating three days after he started receiving treatment. The abdomen X-ray also showed rapid improvement. No adverse effect was observed during the nine days of hospitalization. Conclusions: This report demonstrates that acupuncture and moxibustion may be effective in treating adhesive small bowel obstruction. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2023

Postoperative adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO) is an intractable disorder which sometimes leads to adhesiolysis or small bowel resection. These therapeutic reoperations, however, also have many limitations including complications. An 80-year-old female, who had undergone 4-abdominal surgeries, visited the hospital with continuous vomiting. Based on her clinical symptoms and history, multiple air-fluid levels and distention of the small bowel in an abdominal X-ray, we diagnosed her with postoperative incomplete ASBO. We conducted acupuncture and an herbal medicine enema to stimulate bowel movement and relieve pain. The patient came in complaining of abdominal pain and vomited more than 10 times on hospital day 0 stopping on hospital day 4. Comparing hospital day 0 with hospital day 4, the abdominal pain decreased from a numerical rating scale (NRS) 10 to 4. There were no side effects such as redness or burns during the treatment process. This study presented an acupuncture-based treatment will be helpful for clinicians managing cases of ASBO with poor performance in elderly individuals.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.118-125
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• 2001

The effectiveness of operative and non-operative management for postoperative adhesive ileus in children has been discussed. This study reviews the clinical characteristics and the treatment consequences of adhesive ileus in our institution. Department of Surgery of Chunbuk National University Hospital, retrospectively. A total of 62 cases of post-operative small bowel obstruction treated between January 1975 and December 1998 under the 15 years of age are included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups, operative(n=26) and non-operative(n=36) groups. The prevalent age was between 11 and 15 years(28 cases; 45.2 %), and the most common previous operation was appendectomy(28 cases; 45.2 %). The most common operative procedures were adhesiolysis(17 cases; 65.4 %). The interval between admission and operation was 1 day in 11 cases(42.3 %). The most common site of adhesion was the ileum in 13 cases(50.0 %) and band constriction was the most frequent pattern(8 cases; 30.8 %). Intestinal resection was significantly high in delayed operations of more than four days, in the patients with three or more classical signs of strangulation(fever, tachycardia, leukocytosis, abdominal pain, rebound tenderness), and in the cases of complete obstruction on plain abdomen film(p < 0.05). In conclusion, operation should be considered in cases with three or more signs of strangulation, no clinical improvement for over four days of conservative treatment, and signs of complete obstruction on plain abdomen film during the observation periods.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.37-41
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• 2003

Purpose : Although air enema reduction has been known as a good method of diagnosis and treatment of intussusception, it could develop colon perforation. However, there have been few studies about this complication. So we analyzed the risk factors of colon perforation during air enema reduction in patients with intussusception. Methods : We reviewed the charts of 12 colon perforation patients during air enema reduction of intussusception, who were admitted to Gil Medical Center from Jan. 1990 to Dec. 2001. Their age, sex, major symptoms, length of time till hospital visit, types of intussusception, operative findings and pathologic reports were reviewed. Results : Among 657 cases, 596 patients(90.7%) were successfully treated, but 12 patients(1.83%) failed in air enema reduction and had colon perforation. In patients with colon perforation the male to female ratio was 11 : 1, and average age was 5.3 months. The most common symptom at the time of hospital visit was vomiting(91.7%). Cyclic irritability(75.0%), bloody stool(75.0%) and abdominal mass(41.7%) were also noted. The average length of time between symptom onset and hospital visit was 44.7 hours. Types of intussusception were predominantly ileocolic, ileocecal, and ileoileocolic. The site of perforation was most commonly found at the proximal part of intussusception including ascending colon(50%) and transverse colon(50%). Most cases were uncomplicated, and had a single perforation. Pathologic reports showed hemorrhagic necrosis and mesenteric laceration at the site of colon perforation. Complications of colon perforation were tension pneumoperitonium(58.3%), requiring immediate decompression. Conclusion : The chance of colon perforation during air enema reduction increases in cases with small bowel obstruction on simple abdominal x-ray of a patient younger than 6 months, delay in time till hospital visit and higher air pressure during reduction. Therefore more careful investigation is needed in these cases.