Intestinal Nutrition Played a Vital Important Role in an Intestinal Perforation Patient with Chronic Constipation: A...

Nutrition treatment is important in the critically ill patient. Nutritional therapy should be instituted as soon as possible if indicated.

A 64-year-old woman with malnutrition and intestinal obstruction with gastrointestinal bleeding came to our emergency room. She had a history of constipation. After CT scan, we found perforations in the digestive tract. Because she could not tolerate surgery and parenteral nutrition (PN), we chose to start enteral nutrition (EN). She recovered after the initiation of EN.

Chronic constipation may cause intestinal obstruction, which is rare but fatal. Providers should evaluate the nutritional status for the intensive care patient and start PN/EN at once if necessary. EN may help the closure of perforations.

EN may play a vital important role even in the patients who have perforations in the digestive tract. Chronic constipation may cause obstruction and perforation, which are rare but fatal.