Postoperative ileus
| Ileus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A gangrenous ileus | |
| Pronunciation | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | General surgery |
| ICD-10 | K31.5, K56.0, K56.3, K56.7, P75, P76.1 |
| ICD-9-CM | 537.2, 560.1, 560.31, 777.1, 777.4 |
| DiseasesDB | 6706 |
| MedlinePlus | 000260 |
| eMedicine | article/178948 |
| Patient UK | Ileus |
| MeSH | D045823 |
Ileus is a disruption of the normal propulsive ability of the gastrointestinal tract. Although ileus originally referred to any lack of digestive propulsion, including bowel obstruction, up-to-date medical usage restricts its meaning to those disruptions caused by the failure of peristalsis, rather than by mechanical obstruction. Although certain older terms such as gallstone ileus and meconium ileus persist in usage, they are now misnomers (which does not mean that they are incorrect or obsolete, but rather that they are known to not sound like what they really are).
The word ileus is from Greek εἰλεός eileós, "intestinal obstruction".
Symptoms of ileus include, but are not limited to:
Decreased propulsive ability may be broadly classified as caused either by bowel obstruction or intestinal atony or paralysis. However, instances with symptoms and signs of a bowel obstruction occur, but with the absence of a mechanical obstruction, mainly in acute colonic pseudo-obstruction, Ogilvie's syndrome.
A bowel obstruction is generally a mechanical obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract.
Paralysis of the intestine is often termed paralytic ileus, in which the intestinal paralysis need not be complete, but it must be sufficient to prohibit the passage of food through the intestine and lead to intestinal blockage. Paralytic ileus is a common side effect of some types of surgery, commonly called postsurgical ileus. It can also result from certain drugs and from various injuries and illnesses, such as acute pancreatitis. Paralytic ileus causes constipation and bloating. On listening to the abdomen with a stethoscope, no bowel sounds are heard because the bowel is inactive.
A temporary paralysis of a portion of the intestines occurs typically after abdominal surgery. Since the intestinal content of this portion is unable to move forward, food or drink should be avoided until peristaltic sound is heard, by auscultation (use of a stethoscope) of the area where this portion lies. Intestinal atony or paralysis may be caused by inhibitory neural reflexes, inflammation or other implication of neurohumoral peptides.
...
Wikipedia