Abstract
The cause of death in acute intestinal obstruction has been most generally attributed to a toxaemia. The nature of this toxaemia has not been definitely established. Although the toxic theory has been used to explain death in all types of obstruction, recently some investigators have pointed ont that there is a difference between simple high obstruction in which vomiting is a conspicuous feature and obstruction with injury to the blood supply by distension or strangulation. They believe that the latter results in a toxemia; however the rapid death that occurs in the former they ascribe to loss of digestive secretions alone.
To determine the effect of salt solution administered into the bowel below the point of an uncomplicated high obstruction, dogs were obstructed from 3 to 24 inches beyond the duodeno-jejunal junction and the stump of bowel below the obstruction brought to the outside as a jejunostomy. Through this the animals were given daily a total of 1000 cc. of water with 50 gm. of glucose and 10 gm. of sodium chloride. This was divided into 10 feedings, at hour and a half intervals.
In a series of 19 animals most of them died during the first week from a complication such as pneumonia, peritonitis, or from pulling the bowel out through the jejunostomy wound. Five survived from 13 to 26 days but died from complications. One animal lived 52 days. The behavior of this animal throughout the period of obstruction was remarkable. He was lively and would run about like a normal dog until shortly before death. Vomiting occurred about every other day. On several occasions a watery diarrhea developed when more than 5% glucose was used. The weight gradually declined from 14.2 to 6.4 kg.
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