Dr. Esteban Kosak 
Bowel obstruction (also known as intestinal obstruction) is a medical ailment in which the food loses its advancing movement in the gut due to a physical cause. Sadly, this is a serious condition that requires close medical monitoring.
Normally, the food enters into the mouth, and after all the digestive processes, it leaves the body through the anus as feces (stool). For that to happen, the intestines, small and large intestines, allow food transportation within them, thanks to important movements. They ensure the food goes forward.
Moreover, several could be the causes for both the small or large bowel obstruction of this process. It truly represents a medical emergency; its seriousness will vary depending on the patient’s underlying cause and health background. The most important causes vary depending on the country. There is a substantial difference between developed and developing countries.
The bowel obstruction can appear at any age. Still, this ailment is more common among older individuals. In light of this, amidst the most common bowel obstruction causes, there is an adhesive disease (due to previous abdominal surgeries), tumors, and hernias. These three accounts for a little more than eighty percent of the causes. Other causes but rarer include a volvulus or inflammatory bowel disease, etc.
About one or two of every ten patients that assist in an emergency room with abdominal pain have a bowel obstruction. Therefore, it is pretty common for people to have this condition. The importance of recognizing it early and having a close medical follow-up is because depending on the cause, a patient could need surgery.
Many times patients would benefit from treatment that does not require surgery at that very moment. However, depending on the cause or the complications because of the obstruction, surgery may be necessary if not live-saving.
A patient with intestinal obstruction may develop several complications, such as gut perforation, severe abdominal infection, lung infection, dehydration, and many more. If this ailment does not receive timely and adequate attention, it could lead to death.
This tool is a Bowel Obstruction Symptoms Checker. It gathers the most important signs, symptoms, and risk factors for this ailment.
Remember that people with this ailment very often requires surgery; it is an emergency. Several could be the causes. Besides, many other situations could resemble bowel obstruction symptoms without being one, like some medication adverse effects.
Importantly, this tool does not replace a doctor’s assessment, which is necessary for discarding any underlying life-threatening complication like peritonitis. Similarly, the tool does not replace all the necessary imaging exams for finding the underlying cause for the bowel obstruction.
What is the purpose of this tool? The tool has questions that aim to find the most important signs, symptoms, and risk factors for bowel obstruction. Therefore, the tool would tell anybody who uses it the likelihood of their symptoms because of this ailment. Using this tool is free and would only take a few minutes.
- Question of
Do you have fifty years or more?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did you have abdominal surgery in the past? (Click yes if you had surgery in your abdomen or pelvis for whatever reason, for example, appendix removal, colon surgery, gallbladder removal, etc. This also includes gynecologic surgeries for women)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did you have the abdominal surgery within four weeks from now?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease? (crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with colon cancer? (You can also click yes if any of your parents, grandparents, or siblings have had colon cancer)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with abdominal hernias? (You can also click yes if you got surgery for hernias in the past)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did you have radiation therapy?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with diverticulitis?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have months or years of experiencing abdominal pain that comes and goes in the lower and left portion of your abdomen?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you take any tricyclic antidepressants or narcotics (opium, heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, fentanyl, etc.)?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Normally, do you tend to have three or fewer bowel movements a week?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have months with small and hard stools when defecating, and you need to strain to defecate?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have abdominal pain or cramps? (typically, this pain will come and go)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Is this abdominal pain mild?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Has this abdominal pain gotten much worse (more painful) in a period of six to twelve hours?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have abdominal bloating?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you having problems passing gases (farting)? (Click yes if you are not passing gases, on the contrary, click no if you can pass gasses)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Are you having problems with bowel movements (defecation)? [Click yes if you right now do not have bowel movements for at least 24 hours (and you usually defecate every day) or less than three bowel movements in a week; on the contrary, click no if you can defecate or having diarrhea (loose stools]
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Before having these problems of fewer bowel movements a week or a sudden lack of defecation within twenty-four hours, did you notice a change in your stool shape, becoming narrower for some time now?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have nausea (feeling of throwing-up) or vomits?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have a fever? (preferably use a thermometer which needs to shows more than 101,3 °F or touch your forehead and determine if the temperature is increased)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have diarrhea (loose stools)?
- Yes
- No
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