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Review
. 2023 May 2;59(5):875.
doi: 10.3390/medicina59050875.

Colorectal Cancer-The "Parent" of Low Bowel Obstruction

Valentin Titus Grigorean  1   2 , Anwar Erchid  2 , Ionuţ Simion Coman  1   2 , Mircea Liţescu  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Colorectal Cancer-The "Parent" of Low Bowel Obstruction

Valentin Titus Grigorean et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the improvement of early diagnosis methods for multiple pathological entities belonging to the digestive tract, bowel obstruction determined by multiple etiologies represents an important percentage of surgical emergencies. General data: Although sometimes obstructive episodes are possible in the early stages of colorectal cancer, the most commonly installed intestinal obstruction has the significance of an advanced evolutionary stage of neoplastic disease. Development of Obstructive Mechanism: The spontaneous evolution of colorectal cancer is always burdened by complications. The most common complication is low bowel obstruction, found in approximately 20% of the cases of colorectal cancer, and it can occur either relatively abruptly, or is preceded by initially discrete premonitory symptoms, non-specific (until advanced evolutionary stages) and generally neglected or incorrectly interpreted. Success in the complex treatment of a low neoplastic obstruction is conditioned by a complete diagnosis, adequate pre-operative preparation, a surgical act adapted to the case (in one, two or three successive stages), and dynamic postoperative care. The moment of surgery should be chosen with great care and is the result of the experience of the anesthetic-surgical team. The operative act must be adapted to the case and has as its main objective the resolution of intestinal obstruction and only in a secondary way the resolution of the generating disease. Conclusions: The therapeutic measures adopted (medical-surgical) must have a dynamic character in accordance with the particular situation of the patient. Except for certain or probably benign etiologies, the possibility of colorectal neoplasia should always be considered, in low obstructions, regardless of the patient's age.

Keywords: cancer; colorectal; obstruction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Microscopic image revealing the difference between the thickness of the normal cecal wall and the normal sigmoid colon wall; magnifying glass, 4× (obtained from the Histopathology Department, “Bagdasar-Arseni” Clinical Emergency Hospital from Bucharest).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Postoperative specimen of a tumor located in the colorectal junction (collection of General Surgery Department—“Bagdasar-Arseni” Clinical Emergency Hospital from Bucharest).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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