Laparoscopy in small bowel obstruction – current status – review

INTRODUCTION: Acute small bowel obstruction (SBO) is an urgent medical condition. Its diagnosis is based mainly on a clinical examination followed by confirmatory simple routine radiological examinations such as plain X-ray of the abdominal cavity or computed tomography (CT). However, a real surgical challenge is not a decision whether to perform a surgery, but a decision when and how to perform it. AIM: To determine the place of laparoscopy in contemporary management of acute SBO based on the current literature. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A review of the literature based on the Medline database and including mainly the period of 2013–2017 was performed. CONCLUSIONS: With regard to SBO, laparoscopy is a technique showing its advantages resulting from a minimally invasive approach. However, SBO is still a condition where the use of laparoscopy is limited mainly to selected cases such as SBO caused by single adhesions or foreign bodies. A basic limitation of using this technique is advanced and complicated SBO and lack of sufficient technical skills of the surgeon.