Altered gastric and duodenal motility in intestinal obstruction

There are no strict clinical or radiographic criteria that consistently indicate imminent strangulation in cases of small bowel obstruction. An intestinal obstruction with vascular compromise produces a marked retention of food, fluid, or contrast material in the stomach and duodenum, while an obstruction without vascular problems may show no change or somewhat delayed gastric emptying with some duodenal hypotonia. The association of gastric atony and profound stomach dilatation with strangulating, usually closed-loop intestinal obstruction, has generally not been appreciated by radiologists. We illustrate this phenomenon in 4 patients and emphasize its usefulness in evaluating intestinal obstructions.