Etiology of Acute Intestinal Obstruction and its Association with Socio-demographic among Patients at Tertiary Care Institute of North India

Background: The etiology of acute intestinal obstruction, which is one of the commonest surgical emergencies, varies between countries and has also changed over the decades. Present study was done to evaluate the etiology of acute intestinal obstruction and its association with Socio-demographic among patients at IGMC Shimla. Material and Methodology: This cross sectional study was done among total of 50 patients admitted with features of acute intestinal obstruction in the general surgery department of Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla, randomly selected during the period from 15 June 2019 to 15 June 2020. Data regarding etiology of acute intestinal obstruction and Socio-demographic Characteristics was extracted and analysed using Epi Info Software v7. Results: The study showed the peak incidence of Intestinal obstruction in the age group 51-60 (11) and 61-70(10) years .Mean age in our current study was 53 years and male to female ratio was 3:1. Most common etiology was Adhesive intestinal obstruction (40%), followed by tuberculosis (28%), Malignancy (16%), Obstructed hernia (6%),Volvulus (6%) and Perforated appendix (4%). 76% of small bowel and 24% of large bowel accounts to intestinal obstruction.In the present study Adhesions due to previous surgeries, Obstructed hernia, Malignancy and Volvulus occurred mostly in patients above 50 years of age while there were equal number of Koch abdomen and Perforated appendix among below 50 years and above 50 years patients .Adhesions due to previous surgeries nearly equally affected male and female but obstructed hernia affected males only. Interestingly, Tuberculosis affected females more than males in this study mainly because of low socioeconomic status. Obstructed umbilical and epigastric hernia affected 8.1% males. Colonic and rectosigmoid malignancies affected 21.6% males. Conclusion: Our study concluded that most of cases were of small bowel obstruction. Adhesions due to previous abdominal surgeries and tuberculosis were the commonest cause of intestinal obstruction and occurred mostly in patients above 50 years of age and in males.