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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment for intestinal obstruction requires hospitalization. When you arrive at the hospital, the doctors will first stabilize your medical condition. This includes giving you fluids through an intravenous (IV) line, putting a nasogastric (NG) tube through your nose and into your stomach to suck air and fluid out to allow the intestines to decompress, and placing a thin, flexible tube (catheter) into your bladder to drain urine.
Specific treatment depends on the cause of your condition. If your doctor determines that your signs and symptoms are caused by paralytic ileus, he or she may monitor your condition for a day or two in the hospital. Paralytic ileus is often a temporary condition that gets better on its own. If paralytic ileus doesn't improve within several days, your doctor may prescribe medication that causes muscle contractions, which can help move food and fluids through your intestines.
If you have mechanical obstruction in which some food and fluid can still get through (partial obstruction), decompressing your intestine with an NG tube may improve the condition, and no further treatment is necessary. If the obstruction does not clear within a day or so, you may need surgery to relieve the obstruction.
Complete obstruction, in which nothing can pass through your intestine, is a medical emergency that requires immediate surgery to relieve the blockage.
