Small Bowel Follow-Through: Treatment for Small Bowel Obstruction or Delaying the Inevitable?

Over 400,000 patients are admitted annually for small bowel obstruction (SBO), of which 20-40% require operative intervention, representing more than 2.3 billion dollars in healthcare expenses. Recurrence of SBO increases with a longer duration of follow-up with up to 15-20% recurrence rates within a five-year period. Small bowel follow-through (SBFT) consisting of serial X-rays with oral contrast has been shown to decrease overall length of stay (LOS) in patients with adhesive SBO. The aim of this study is to determine if SBFT administered to patients with SBO decreases 30-day and up to five-year readmission rates secondary to recurrent SBO.

The institutional review board (IRB) approved a single institution retrospective study from 2010 to 2020 that included a total of 742 patients. These patients were organized into groups of those who received the SBFT <24 hours after admission (n=40), those who received the SBFT >24 hours (n=198), and the third group of patients who did not receive the SBFT (n=658). Readmission rates <30 days, 70 years along with BMI <25, 25-29.9, 30-34.9, 35-39.9, >40, as well as the number of intraabdominal surgeries, gender, and need for operative intervention during the admission were evaluated to assess for any associations with recurrence. Readmission within 30 days and up to five years were compared.

There were no significant differences in recurrence rates between groups with SBFT <24 hours (p=0.338) or SBFT >24 hours (p=0.889) when compared to the no SBFT group. There was nearly a 48% chance of readmission for another episode of an SBO for patients who did not undergo an operative intervention. While patients who underwent operative intervention had around a 29% chance of having a subsequent episode of an SBO. This is consistent with a statistically significant decrease in one-year (p=0.027) recurrences in patients who underwent operative intervention.

There was no significant difference in recurrences with gender, most BMI groups, or in groups who underwent an SBFT. Operative intervention is associated with a statistically significant decrease in recurrence rates of SBO within one year of presentation.