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Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction after caesarean section

M A Dickson1, J H McClure

  • 1Department of Anaesthetics, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, UK.

International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia
|October 1, 1994
PubMed

A 32-year-old patient developed pseudo-obstruction of the large bowel following elective caesarean section. The association of this rare postoperative complication with anaesthesia is discussed. Pseudo-obstruction of the large bowel (Ogilvie's Syndrome), is characterised by an adynamic mechanically unobstructed bowel which may progress to marked dilatation of the caecum. The reported mortality varies from 14-30% rising to 40-50% if there is caecal perforation. The underlying mechanism is thought to be an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system.

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