Safety of Foregoing Operation for Small Bowel Obstruction in the Virgin Abdomen: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Our objective was to assess the safety of foregoing surgery in patients without abdominopelvic surgery history presenting with small bowel obstruction (SBO). Classic dogma has counseled early surgical intervention for SBO in the virgin abdomen—patients without abdominopelvic surgery history—given their presumed higher risk of malignant or potentially catastrophic etiologies compared with those who had undergone previous abdominal operations. The...