Reversible Small-Bowel Obstruction

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Abstract
SOLITARY small-bowel ulcerations with secondary obstruction in patients receiving entericcoated preparations of thiazide diuretics and potassium chloride is currently of major interest to all physicians.1-8 Although the incidence of this entity is extremely low, considering the number of patients treated with this regimen, reports implicating causal relationship between the small-bowel lesion and potassium-supplemented thiazide diuretics are rapidly accumulating. Resection of the diseased segment of bowel has been resorted to in all of the reported cases. To allay the anxiety of physicians prescribing this valuable combination of drugs, the following case is presented to illustrate that the pathological changes are perhaps not irreversible and that the clinical course may be ameliorated by cessation of therapy without the necessity of surgical intervention. Report of a Case A 64-year-old Negro office worker (PBBH-1-77-58) was admitted in October 1964, with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea of two day's duration. In May 1964,