Small bowel obstruction in the emergency department: MDCT features of common and uncommon causes

Small bowel obstruction is a common condition encountered by the radiologist in the emergency department. Though intestinal adhesions and obstructed hernias are the most common causes of acute small bowel obstruction, a variety of uncommon and rare conditions can cause acute and subacute bowel obstruction. Imaging plays a key role in the workup of bowel obstruction by identifying the cause, level, and degree of bowel obstruction. In this article, we present a comprehensive review of the multi-detector computed tomography features of common and uncommon causes of acute and subacute small bowel obstruction.