[Diagnosis and therapy of pseudo-obstruction of the colon]

Pseudo-obstruction of the colon (Ogilvie's syndrome) occurred in 18 patients as an acute abdominal emergency. It was characterized by massive distension of the caecum or the entire colon in the absence of any organic cause. Usually there was an underlying extraintestinal disease. Diagnosis of this entity depends on careful radiological investigation of the abdomen, whereby barium enema reveals the absence of organic obstruction. Increasing distension in untreated patients may lead to spontaneous perforation of the caecum.