Small bowel obstruction

After surgery, patients should be monitored for recurrence of their symptoms (e.g., crampy pain, abdominal distention, vomiting).

Following discharge, patients should be seen annually for routine medical care by their primary care physician. Evidence of crampy abdominal pain or food intolerance should lead to additional investigations by an upper gastrointestinal x-ray with small bowel follow-through and/or a computed tomographic scan of the abdomen, to assess for disease recurrence, particularly in the setting of malignancy. The frequency of follow-up and monitoring should be determined by the underlying disease.