CT diagnosis of small-bowel obstruction: efficacy in 60 patients.

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Abstract
We retrospectively compared the CT findings in patients with and without surgically proved small-bowel obstruction to evaluate the role of CT in diagnosing the presence and cause of obstruction. In the patients with obstruction, we compared the CT findings with findings on plain abdominal radiographs and contrast studies of the small intestine. CT criteria used for the diagnosis of obstruction were dilated small-bowel loops proximal to the suspected site of obstruction and collapsed or normal-appearing loops of small bowel distal to the obstruction. Receiver-operating-characteristic analysis suggested the optimum balance of sensitivity and specificity was achieved when 2.5 cm was used to indicate dilatation of the small bowel. On the basis of these criteria, the presence of obstruction was correctly diagnosed in 27 (90%) of 30 patients with proved obstruction, and obstruction was not diagnosed in the patients without obstruction. The cause of the obstruction was evident on CT in 14 of the 30 obstructed pa...

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