Octreotide may prevent definitive intestinal obstruction.

Partial bowel obstruction is indistinguishable from definitive obstruction at the onset of symptoms. No consensus exists regarding the treatment of potentially reversible states of bowel obstruction. On the basis of previous experience, octreotide was used in two patients with chronic intestinal obstruction, resulting in good control of intestinal symptoms and maintenance of a prolonged adequate intestinal transit, preventing the occurrence of definitive bowel obstruction. The results observed stress the early use of octreotide in such delicate clinical situations.