Early laparoscopic adhesiolysis for small bowel obstruction: retrospective study of main advantages.

BACKGROUND: The problem of managing adhesional small bowel obstruction (ASBO) is still unsolved. A conservative medical attitude is privileged even if it is associated to a high rate of recurrences, while surgery is applied to cases showing no improvement after 48-72 h. Adhesiolysis via laparotomy has been the standard surgical management, but it causes other adhesions in a vicious circle. The aim of the study is to evaluate the advantages of early laparoscopic adhesiolysis as an alternative approach. METHODS: From January 2010 to April 2017, 107 patients were admitted with a diagnosis of ASBO. Patients underwent medical treatment, early surgery, emergency surgery or delayed surgery after failure of medical treatment. A retrospective review and explorative statistical analysis were performed using graphical diagnostic plots, Mann-Whitney (MW) test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test, exact binomial test, and χ 2 test. RESULTS: Medical treatment led to resolution in the 77.3% of cases, but patients exhibit much more recurrences than those in the surgical group (χ 2 p < .001). They also show a longer fasting time (MW p = .027; KS p = .102), a doubled number of radiological exams (MW p < .001; KS p < .001), and more major complications than those in the early surgery group. Early surgery group is associated to shorter fasting time (MW p < .001; KS p < .001), much shorter hospital stay (MW p < .001; KS p = .002) and a smaller number of radiological exams (MW p = .005; KS p = .002) compared with delayed surgery group. The laparoscopic group shows significantly earlier regain of intestinal transit (MW p < .001; KS p = .002), shorter fasting time (MW p = .002; KS p = .008), reduced number of radiological exams (MW p = .003; KS p = .014), reduced hospital stay (MW p < .001; KS p = .005), and no more complications than the open surgery group. CONCLUSIONS: Early laparoscopic surgery can be proposed as an effective alternative treatment for ASBO.