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Introduction. Worlwide, the intestinal obstruction is a frequent cause of hospital admissions, representing 10% of the patients admitted to the surgical services from the emergency room. We ignore the behaviour of this disease in our country.
Objective. Describe the incidence, etiology and management of intestinal obstruction in hospitalized patients in the Departments of General Surgery at the Metropolitan Hospital Dr. Arnulfo A. Madrid (Panama province), Rafael Hernandez Hospital (Chiriqui province) and Manuel A. Guerrero Hospital (Colon province). Social Security Bureau - Republic of Panama. 2000-2007.
Methods. Descriptive, multicentric and retrospective study. A revision of medical charts was made of hospitalized patients in the Departments of General Surgery, with a diagnosis of intestinal obstruction.
Results. In a total of 280 patients, hospitalized in General Surgery Departments, the incidence of intestinal obstruction was 1.5 %. 56 % of the patients were male and 44 % were female. The predominant age group was 51-75 years old (46 %). The most frequent etiology nationwide were post-surgical abdominal adhesion (55 %), hernias (16 %), neoplasia (10 %). In Chiriquí province the results were different, being volvulus the third cause (17 %). Partial intestinal obstructions was present in 190 patients (68 %); and complete intestinal obstructions in 90 patients (32 %). The non-surgical management was successfull in the 65 % of the partial intestinal obstructions. From the moment of the admission, 32 % of patients required surgical management.
Conclusions. The main cause of intestinal obstruction was post-surgical abdominal adhesions, and we noticed that in native populations, volvulus is one of the main causes. We report a 65% success of non-surgical management for partial intestinal obstruction.
