I have had pretty severe pain in the middle of of my stomach, up high, right beneath the ribcage. This has been going on since 10 PM Saturday. I have not had a bowel movement since 1 am on Sunday. I am 3 years post surgery. I thought it might be a blockage or twist/kink. Spoke to Dr. and he said that if it gets worse or if I start throwing up to go to ER. Well, it hasn't gotten worse, I feel a bit nauseous but no throwing up. But it hasn't gotten better either. What are the symptoms of a twisted intestine and how does that differ from a blockage? Can it resolve on it's own? Am I doing harm by waiting at home and not going to ER? How do they fix a twisted intestine? Thanks for your help!

My small intestine twisted around behind the ileostomy (between step 1 and takedown). I had a sudden sharp pain under the ribs that left me in a sweat and having difficulty walking. I tried lying down, knees to chest, and rocking side to side. The pain lessened, but several hours later I started vomiting. I went to the ER when I couldn't keep water down. I was severely dehydrated; they had to put the IV in my neck. I had surgery to unwrap the intestines.

I hope you don't need surgery. Good luck!

Anjuli

The choice of waiting or going has to be up to you. If you go to the ER they will most likely:
1. Send you for a CT scan - which may or may not show anything
2. Give you pain meds
3. Keep you there - or not. Depends on what they see on the CT
4. Try and let you wait it out - especially if you are not throwing up. Doctors would much rather see if it will resolve itself prior to going in surgically

Are you passing gas or stool at all? If you are and things are pretty normal except for the pain and nausea you might be suffering from something else. Gall bladder problems, perhaps?

Blockages due to obstructions or twists/kinks usually result in:
1. Bloating
2. Gas
3. Inability to pass stool or gas
4. Pain - increasing in intensity and increasing in frequency
5. Vomiting

If things get really bad, and you rupture you would also soon have infection and fever set in - which would absolutely necessitate an emergency trip to the ER.

Steve

This is Bob's wife, Kim. We went to ER and they admitted him. Dr. said a kink due to scar tissue. He also said that these kinks resolve themselves 80% of the time. What is your experience? Did they resolve on their own or did you need surgery? What was the surgery like? Laparoscopic? What type of incision and recovery? Hopfully we're not in that 20%.

My surgery to unwrap the revolved intestine was not laproscopic. I got a long vertical incision, and was in the hospital for 8 days. This happened only 2 weeks after step 1 surgery, and the new incision got infected, so that slowed recovery as well.

I wish you and your husband better luck. I hope he's in the 80% that doesn't neeed surgery.

Anjuli

All of my blockages resolved on their own, without hospitalization or surgery. As for the type of surgery, it will depend on who does it. If I were you, I would be finding a good colo-rectal surgeon who does things lapro, or even a good general surgeon who works lapro. My adhesion removal surgery was done laproscopically, so this kind of thing can be done that way. Just depends on the doc and the circumstances (in an emergency, for example, they would probably do an open surgery rather than taking the extra time to prep and do a lapro procedure).