Use of early gastrografin small bowel follow-through in small bowel obstruction management

Small bowel follow-through (SBFT) is a diagnostic tool commonly used in the management of patients with small bowel obstruction (SBO). This study assessed whether early implementation of Gastrografin SBFT would reduce the time to resolution of the SBO and decrease the time to operative intervention. In this retrospective chart review, 103 patients with the clinical diagnosis of adhesive SBO were evaluated. End points of the study were resolution of SBO with nonoperative management or operative intervention. The patient group that had received a SBFT was then compared with those that did not receive a SBFT. There were 103 patients with adhesive SBO who met inclusion criteria for this study. Seventy-two of 103 patients had undergone Gastrografin SBFT and 31 did not. In the SBFT group, mean time to the operating room was 1.0 days after SBFTs, whereas in the group that did not receive SBFT, it was 3.7 days (P < 0.0001). Mean time to nonoperative resolution of SBO in the SBFT group was 1.8 days and 4.7 days in the no SBFT group (P < 0.0001). There were no Gastrografin-related complications. Obtaining Gastrografin SBFT in patients with adhesive SBO leads to both a shorter time in identifying the need for operative intervention and to resolution of SBO with nonoperative management. SBFT seems to be a more definitive assessment of whether an SBO will resolve on its own or if operative intervention is necessary.