Adhesive intestinal obstruction following blunt abdominal trauma

Advances in diagnosis and management of multiple trauma patients have lead to adopting a conservative approach for most patients with blunt abdominal trauma. Intestinal obstruction is a rare complication for this approach. Herein, we report a 37-year-old male, who did not have an abdominal operation, and who developed adhesive intestinal obstruction 7 weeks following blunt abdominal trauma. We detected no signs of peritonitis or intra-abdominal bleeding clinically or radiologically on admission. We initially treated the intestinal obstruction conservatively, but the obstruction did not resolve. Finally, we performed laparotomy, which showed that the small bowel was matted together by thick fibrous layers of adhesions. We performed adhesiolysis, and the patient was discharged home 3 weeks later. Histopathological findings of the fibrous layer were consistent with repair due to previous trauma and hemorrhage. We review the literature of this rare condition.