SynthesisJournal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract2020
Therapeutic Role of Water-Soluble Contrast Media in Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT06262815 (The Utility of Treatment With Nasogastric Tube Placement for Small Bowel Obstruction in Adult Patients in the Emergency Department; an Observational Multicenter Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Utility of Treatment With Nasogastric Tube Placement for Small Bowel Obstruction in Adult Patients in the Emergency Department; an Observational Multicenter Study
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Prospective Randomised Pilot Study on the Timing of Contrast Media Administration in Adhesive and Virgin Abdomen Small Bowel Obstruction.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Trial
- Use of oral iohexol in patients with adhesive small intestinal obstruction.Turkish journal of surgery · 2026Article
- Review
- Outcomes of small bowel obstruction management in previously unoperated patients with a mid-term follow-up: a retrospective cohort study.BMC surgery · 2026Article
- Water-soluble contrast agent use in adhesional small bowel obstruction: a survey of surgical practices and clinical trial considerations.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2026Article
- Evidence-based, cost-effective management of small bowel obstruction: An algorithm of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery emergency general surgery algorithms work group.The journal of trauma and acute care surgery · 2025Article
- Predictors for success of non-operative management of adhesive small bowel obstruction.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2023Article
- Evaluating temporal trends and the impact of surgical subspecialisation on patient outcomes following adhesional small bowel obstruction: a multicentre cohort study.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2023Article
- The Angers CT Score is a Risk Factor for the Failure of the Conservative Management of Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction: A Prospective Observational Multicentric Study.World journal of surgery · 2023Observational
- Management of small bowel obstruction and therapeutic role of contrast media: A multicenter study.Surgery in practice and science · 2023Article
- THE WATER-SOLUBLE CONTRAST FOR ADHESIVE SMALL BOWEL OBSTRUCTION: ARE THERE ADVANTAGES?Arquivos brasileiros de cirurgia digestiva : ABCD = Brazilian archives of digestive surgery · 2023Article
- Imaging Modalities for Evaluation of Intestinal Obstruction.Clinics in colon and rectal surgery · 2021Review
- Adhesive small bowel obstruction - an update.Acute medicine & surgeryReview
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAdhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO) is a common post-operative cause of hospitalisation. Water-soluble contrast media (WSCM) has become a popular non-surgical approach to treatment. However, previous reviews have concluded with conflicting results. This meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) re-evaluated the therapeutic value of WSCM in the management of ASBO.
methodsA comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases was undertaken to identify RCTs from January 2000 to November 2018. The primary outcomes of length of stay and secondary outcomes of time to resolution, need for surgery, and mortality were extracted from the included studies. Quantitative pooling of the data was based on the random effects model.
resultsEight hundred and seventy-nine patients from the nine studies were included in the analysis. The administration of oral WSCM reduced the length of hospital stay (weighted mean difference - 0.15 days, P < 0.0001). However, WSCM does not reduce the need for surgery (relative risk 0.84, P < 0.009) and makes no difference to mortality rate (RR 0.99, P < 1.000). The definition of time to resolution of ASBO differed between the studies, ranging from time to passing flatus, to cessation of abdominal pain, and time to initiating oral intake. The significant differences in definition precluded meaningful quantitative pooling of this outcome.
conclusionsThis meta-analysis evaluating the therapeutic value of WSCM has shown that it does not reduce the need for operative management in ASBO or impact mortality rates. It shortens hospital stay by 0.15 days (3.6 h) which is not clinically significant.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.