This seems to be a hot topic lately, and I have 2 questions:
first, what do they do in the hospital if you go in w/ a blockage that is different than one could do at home (stop eating, move as much as possible, hot drinks, massage abdomen....)?

second, those of you who have dealt with this, once a blockage has passed, you have dealt with the massive pain and cramping and things seem to have subsided, are you left with a generally sore and miserable belly for a while? Is this just to be expected after all the cramping, and what do you do about it? Wait it out? Stay off solids til it is better? Is there anything that seems to help it?

Thanks,
Jenny

When I had to be hospitalized, my obstruction, caused by a adhesion, ruptured my small intestine. I lost 6 inches of it. It can be very serious. 15 days in the hospital. It was worse then having my colon removed. I didn't think I was going to come home.

I had an obstruction as well.. just after my 1st surgery. In my case, I was in alot of pain and extremely nauseous. They can clear it one of two ways - NG tube down the nose (to pull all of the contents out) or surgery. NG tube isn't pleasant but much better option than surgery, in my opinion. I wasn't allowed any food/liquid for 3 days.. then they slowly introduce clear liquids, then soft foods and so on. Agreed on the prior comment - it was much worse than having my colon removed.

I have been sufering smaii blockage all week. I had been on the antibiotice Cipro for about 3 weeks could this be causing this.
Tim

Hi Jenny,

The most important thing that the hospital can do for you that you can't do at home is offer IV fluids. If your obstruction is serious enough to cause nausea and vomiting then you will become dehydrated very quickly.

The other is to give you an NG tube to take some of the pressure from the blockage. Your small bowel and stomach will continue to try to flush out the blockage by producing more fluids. This can be very dangerous if the fluid has nowhere to go and can cause rupture of the bowel.

The third thing is that they can offer adequate pain relief. Full bowel obstruction pain is (in my opinion) far worse than any other pain I have suffered including childbirth so effective pain medication is a must.

Hope that answers some of you questions.

Take care.

Shell

When I was in the hospital a couple of times with an obstruction - they gave me enough pain meds to make me comfortable...but no so much as to put my bowel 'to sleep'.

They encouraged me to walk as much as possible as well.

Ok Jenny.....what did ya eat?? LOL.. I had an obstruction way back when(20yrs ago) with broccoli that was not cooked well enough. That was a lesson learned, after an ambulance ride from CT to Lahey Clinic..and the dang thing passed during the ride. I had my original surgeon waiting for me to arrive so we could go to the OR, and as soon as I got to the hospital I started to pass stuff again. They kept me on fluids, as I was dehydrated and still had a partial obstruction that they kept an eye on. I was sent home after a couple of days of fluids and laps around the unit to keep things moving. But yes, my stomach feels like it got kicked after a partial obstruction..like it's bruised inside. Occasionally, I HAVE to have popcorn, and sometimes I unwittingly don't drink enough..and low and behold..I regret the popcorn!

Thus far I have only had one partial obstuction. I know shrimp is a no-no, but for cryin' out loud, I only ate three of them. But they got me. I was vomiting but decided to wait. My thinking at the time was, what are they going to do? X-ray? I already knew what was wrong. I.V. fluids. I wasn't dehydrated, yet. Pain control, I had oxycodone here. If it had gotten worse, and the pain or vomitting had increased, I would have gone in. Thankfully by a.m. it had passed. I'll skip the shrimp. I really don't want to do that again.
LoriP

I was in the hospital all day Wednesday with an obstruction. The nurse wanted to put an NG tube in because he said that's what we do with bowel obstructions. He was unfamiliar with a J-Pouch and I told him that all the times I've been in for this, they do x-rays, give me pain meds and IV fluids - it will pass. So that's what he did.

My gut was sore for three days. Today is the first day it's not sore.

I had a blocakge last 11 days without a NG tube, but for the most part I get the NG tube for the whole course of hospitalization. This last time I was hospitalized the house doc told me(upon discharge)that I didn't need to have the NG tube except for maybe the first day or two, then he pulls it and he has his patient go NPO and maitain IV and pain meds for the duration...Unless of course the patient starts throwing up again...WhY the heck didn't he say something BEFORE discharge!!!
My regular docs have always treated me with the NG tube
Julie