Laparoscopy for small bowel obstruction in children--an update

Paediatric adhesive bowel obstruction: a systematic review

Adhesions following abdominal surgery remain a common cause of bowel obstruction. The incidence is between 1 and 12.6% in children who have had previous abdominal surgery. While conservative management is usually trialled in all patients (including children) suspected of having ASBO, the majority will require surgical intervention. New materials such as Seprafilm^® have been studied in the paediatric population, with promising results of its use in index abdominal surgeries to prevent the formation of adhesions. In this article, we conducted a systematic review to present an overview of the current knowledge on the incidence, aetiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and management of ASBO.

Laparoscopy or laparotomy for adhesive bowel obstruction in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO) is one of the most important cause of postoperative morbidity in children who underwent abdominal surgery. Laparoscopic management for ASBO in pediatric patients has been reported. However, its safety and efficacy has not been evaluated in details. The aim of this study is to compare the outcomes of laparoscopy and laparotomy for the treatment of ASBO in children.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed following the Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews of intervention and the preferred reporting item for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) and a protocol registered in PROSPERO (CRD42017067914). The primary outcome was the number of intraoperative and postoperative complications. The secondary outcome was length of hospital stay. The risk of bias in non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Quality of evidence was summarized using the grades of recommendation, assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE) approach.

RESULTS

We identified three observational studies and no randomized controlled trials. The meta-analysis was done only for the primary outcome. Complications were significantly fewer after laparoscopy compared to laparotomy (Odds ratio = 0.51; 95% CI 0.40-0.66; p < 0.01; I ²: 0%). The overall risk of bias was considered serious.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results, based on observational studies, indicate that laparoscopy for ASBO was associated with less postoperative complications compared to conventional laparotomy. However, the quality of evidence is very low. A well-controlled study is needed to assess the efficacy of laparoscopy for pediatric patients with ASBO.

Decision Making in Bowel Obstruction: A Review

Over the last century there have not been significant changes in the anatomical location of obstruction. The age of presentation has increased along with age related co-morbidity. Management has consequently been challenging as risks keep on increasing with advanced age. Hence, clear decision making has become essential in its management. A selective review of the literature pertaining to common age related aetiologies, diagnosis methods leading to standard decision making and treatment of acute intestinal obstruction was done. The same is obtained from randomized controlled studies, meta-analysis and other related evidence based publications. Predicting the conservative or operative management of Bowel Obstruction (BO) is difficult. BO in young age, in unscarred abdomen and Large Bowel Obstruction (LBO) needs early surgery. Decision on surgery should be taken in paediatric patient by second day and preferably between 3-5 days of admission in adults. Higher American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) grade correlates well with the mortalities. In this article, the timing of surgery, methods to avoid bowel resection and type of surgery in various causes are stressfully analysed and discussed.