Large Bowel Obstruction Caused by Colon Cancer: A Retro-spective Study

Abstract

Background and aims: Colorectal cancer is one of major cancers that affect both men and women worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of large bowel obstruction due to colon cancer among patients who had large bowel obstruction and are admitted to the surgical department at Tripoli Medical Center (TMC). Additionally, to identify if there is an association between large bowel obstruction due to colon cancer and patient’s characteristics and clinical features. Methods: In a retrospective comparative study, medical records of 4600 patients who were admitted to surgical de-partment, TMC, Tripoli-Libya from January 2011to December 2013 were reviewed. Of them, 38 pa-tients had large bowel obstruction and all of them were admitted through emergency department. Results: Out of 38 patients with large bowel obstruction, there were 18 patients (47.4%) had large bowel obstruction due to colon cancer, 15 patients (39.5%) were due to other causes (i.e., volvulus, in-tucessuption), and five patients (13.2%) were lacking the histopathological cause of the large bowel obstruction diagnosis. There was no association between large bowel obstruction due to colon cancer and demographic information except age of the patients (p = 0.04) and type of treatment (conservative versus surgical) (p = 0.01). There was no association between large bowel obstructions due to colon cancer and presenting symptoms and signs. Conclusion: Colon cancer is frequent cause of large bowel obstruction, and it is more common among elderly population and it is more likely to be treated sur-gically.