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Mechanical Bowel Obstruction: A Tale of 2 Eras Comment on “Change in Mechanical Bowel Obstruction Demographic and Etiological Patterns During the Past Century”

Mechanical Bowel Obstruction: A Tale of 2 Eras Comment on “Change in Mechanical Bowel Obstruction... Drożdż and Budzyński1 offer a comparative study of mechanical bowel obstruction at the same institution in Poland during 2 periods, 1868 through 1898 and 2000 through 2003. The information provides insight into medicine and surgery in the distant past. Differences in the etiology of obstruction in the 2 periods can be explained in part by multiple factors. First, public health in the 19th century was poor and is reflected in the short life expectancy and the frequency of infectious diseases that are rarely seen today. With the short life expectancy, we would not expect the number of colon cancers or cases of sigmoid diverticulitis that are seen today with patients living beyond 70, 80, or 90 years of age. We would expect the higher surgical mortality in the 19th century considering the lack of intravenous resuscitation, blood transfusions, and antibiotics, among other factors. Professor Obaliński should be lauded for his advocacy of an early definitive operation for mechanical bowel obstruction. He deserves to be mentioned with the pathologist Reginald H. Fitz, who advocated operation for acute appendicitis, and with Carl Langenbuch, who advocated operation for acute cholecystitis. The authors are to be congratulated for giving us this glimpse of history. Back to top Article Information Correspondence: Dr Kozol, Department of Surgery, JFK Medical Center, 5301 S Congress Ave, Atlantis, FL 33462 (rakozol@med.miami.edu). Financial Disclosure: None reported. References 1. Drożdż W, Budzyński P. Change in mechanical bowel obstruction demographic and etiological patterns during the past century: observations from one health care institution. Arch Surg. 2012;147(2):175-180Google ScholarCrossref http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of Surgery American Medical Association

Mechanical Bowel Obstruction: A Tale of 2 Eras Comment on “Change in Mechanical Bowel Obstruction Demographic and Etiological Patterns During the Past Century”

Kozol, Robert
Archives of Surgery , Volume 147 (2) – Feb 20, 2012
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Mechanical Bowel Obstruction: A Tale of 2 Eras Comment on “Change in Mechanical Bowel Obstruction Demographic and Etiological Patterns During the Past Century”

Abstract

Drożdż and Budzyński1 offer a comparative study of mechanical bowel obstruction at the same institution in Poland during 2 periods, 1868 through 1898 and 2000 through 2003. The information provides insight into medicine and surgery in the distant past. Differences in the etiology of obstruction in the 2 periods can be explained in part by multiple factors. First, public health in the 19th century was poor and is reflected in the short life expectancy and the frequency of...
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References (23)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0004-0010
eISSN
1538-3644
DOI
10.1001/archsurg.2011.1415
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Drożdż and Budzyński1 offer a comparative study of mechanical bowel obstruction at the same institution in Poland during 2 periods, 1868 through 1898 and 2000 through 2003. The information provides insight into medicine and surgery in the distant past. Differences in the etiology of obstruction in the 2 periods can be explained in part by multiple factors. First, public health in the 19th century was poor and is reflected in the short life expectancy and the frequency of infectious diseases that are rarely seen today. With the short life expectancy, we would not expect the number of colon cancers or cases of sigmoid diverticulitis that are seen today with patients living beyond 70, 80, or 90 years of age. We would expect the higher surgical mortality in the 19th century considering the lack of intravenous resuscitation, blood transfusions, and antibiotics, among other factors. Professor Obaliński should be lauded for his advocacy of an early definitive operation for mechanical bowel obstruction. He deserves to be mentioned with the pathologist Reginald H. Fitz, who advocated operation for acute appendicitis, and with Carl Langenbuch, who advocated operation for acute cholecystitis. The authors are to be congratulated for giving us this glimpse of history. Back to top Article Information Correspondence: Dr Kozol, Department of Surgery, JFK Medical Center, 5301 S Congress Ave, Atlantis, FL 33462 (rakozol@med.miami.edu). Financial Disclosure: None reported. References 1. Drożdż W, Budzyński P. Change in mechanical bowel obstruction demographic and etiological patterns during the past century: observations from one health care institution. Arch Surg. 2012;147(2):175-180Google ScholarCrossref

Journal

Archives of Surgery – American Medical Association

Published: Feb 20, 2012

Keywords: demography,intestinal obstruction

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