Intestinal obstruction secondary to postoperative adhesion formation in abdominal surgery. Review literature

Intestinal obstruction development after upper and lower abdominal surgery is part of the daily life of every surgeon. Despite this one, there are very few good quality studies that enable the frequency of intestinal obstruction to be assessed, even though postoperative adhesions are the cause of considerable direct and indirect morbidity and its prevention can be considered a public health problem. And yet, in Mexico, at this time, there is no validated recommendation on the prevention of adhesions, or more particularly, in connection with the use of a variety of anti-adhesion commercial products which have been marketed for at least a decade. Intraperitoneal adhesions develop between surfaces without peritoneum of the abdominal organs, mesentery, and abdominal wall. The most common site of adhesions is between the greater omentum and anterior abdominal wall. Despite the frequency of adhesions and their direct and indirect consequences, there is only one published recommendation (from gynaecological literature), regarding peritoneal adhesion prevention. As concerning colorectal surgery, more than 250,000 colorectal resections are performed annually in the United States, and 24% to 35% of them will develop a complication. The clinical and financial burden of these complications is enormous, and colorectal surgery has been specifically highlighted as a potential prevention point of surgical morbidity.