Acute Intestinal Obstruction: Epidemiological Profile and Management from Two Years of Surgical Pratice in the Central Hospital of the Army of Algiers

Background: Acute intestinal obstruction (AIO) is a major public health problem. Despite advances in surgery and medical imaging, this emergency is still diagnosed late, which explains why its mortality has remained unchanged. We aimed to determine the epidemiological profile of AIO in our institution, as well as the rank of AIO in terms of the volume of our activity. Methods: We conducted a survey of AIO operated in our General Surgery Department of the Central Army Hospital of Algiers over two years (2016–2017). The inclusion criteria were all patients aged over 16 years with mechanical AIO. The statistical study was based on Excel software version 2013. Results: AIO represented 10% of all surgical emergencies in our practice. The mean age of patients was 61 years (range 16–90). There was a predominance of males in patients with AIO with a sex ratio of 1.45. The majority of patients (70%) had a past surgical history. Small bowel obstructions were dominated by adhesions in 53% of cases, and 72% of colonic obstructions were caused by cancer. The mortality rate was 7.6%. Conclusions: The high rate of AIO due to cancer should call on the health authorities in our country to undertake an urgent plan for targeted screening of populations at risk of developing colorectal cancer.