Abstract
The cause of death in intestinal obstruction is unknown. | The occurrence of intestinal obstruction as an acute intra-abdominal condition is probably as old as the race itself. The Hippocratic facies— | "... a sharp nose, hollow eyes, collapsed temples; the ears cold, contracted and their lobes turned out; the skin about the forehead being rough, distended, and parched; the color of the whole face being green, black, livid, or lead-colored, (1)" | might well be a description of a patient profoundly ill of intestinal obstruction. And Hippocrates' later admonition | "... Wherefore one should attend to this; that when the feet are cold, the bowels are necessarily hot, and filled with nauseous matters; the hypochondrium distended; there is jactitation of the body, owing to the internal disturbance; and aberration of the intellect and pains; the patient is agitated and wishes to vomit, and if he vomits bad matters he is pained;...(2)" | includes the salient features of the clinical picture presented by the obstructed patient. A later sentence even draws attention to the scanty urinary output!