Posttraumatic intestinal stenosis: clinical and radiographic features in four patients.

PURPOSE: To characterize posttraumatic intestinal stenosis clinically and radiographically. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The clinical records and radiographic and pathologic findings were reviewed in four patients with posttraumatic stenosis. RESULTS: The patients experienced abdominal symptoms from 1 to 18 weeks after the trauma. While the small intestine was affected in two patients with ileus, the colon was involved in the other two patients with rectal bleeding or diarrhea. Barium studies showed an irregular contour within the severely narrowed intestine in three patients, even 25 weeks after the trauma. In these three patients, pathologic examinations of the resected specimens revealed a circumferential, open ulcer, whereas a scarred ulcer was present in the other patient. CONCLUSION: Posttraumatic intestinal stenosis is clinically characterized by a delayed onset of symptoms that differ according to the site of involvement. This condition should be included in the differential diagnosis of intestinal stenosis.