Long intestinal tube splinting prevents postoperative adhesive small-bowel obstruction in sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis

BACKGROUND: Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP) is a rare cause of small-bowel obstruction. The optimal treatment for this condition remains controversial. METHODS: In this study, we performed a retrospective analysis of the data of 44 patients who underwent surgery for SEP between December 2001 and 2008 at our hospital. The long-term follow-up data of the patients were assessed for the recurrence of adhesive small-bowel obstruction (ASBO), and patient survival was assessed to evaluate the efficiency of tube splinting in the prevention of postoperative ASBO. RESULTS: Of the 44 patients who underwent surgery for SEP, 33 underwent simple enterolysis along with tube splinting, while the remaining underwent only simple enterolysis. The median follow-up period was 79.4 ± 24.8 months (range: 8–123 months). The rate of complications was 9.1% and 6.1% in the simple enterolysis group and tube-splinting group, respectively (P = 0.73). The recurrence rate of ASBO was lower in the tube-splinting group (6.7%) than in the simple enterolysis group (40%) (P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that tube splinting may be more useful than simple enterolysis alone in preventing the recurrence of ASBO in patients with SEP.