Abstract

Objective: To compare the therapeutic effects of transnasal ileus tubes (TNITs) and nasogastric tubes (NGTs) in elderly patients with mechanical ileus.

Methods: The clinical data of 135 elderly patients (age > 65 years) with mechanical ileus were retrospectively analyzed from January 2017 to December 2020. They were divided into the TNITs group and the NGTs group according to their mode of conservative treatment. Post intervention symptomatic improvement, treatment safety, hospital stay, flatus time, defecation time, and eating time were compared between the two groups.

Results: The tube retention time of the patients in the TNITs group was 92.07 ± 30.16 h, shorter than that of the NGTs group (151.26 ± 58.97 h, p < 0.001). The postoperative flatus time, defecation time, eating time and imaging efficacy in the TNITs group were shorter than those in the NGTs group (all p < 0.001). The duration of hospital stay in the TNITs group was shorter than that in the NGTs group (7.98 ± 2.79 d vs. 11.03 ± 4.58 d, p < 0.001), and the drug costs were less than those in the NGTs group (26734.51 ± 9836.43 Chinese Yuan (CNY) vs. 14965.63 ± 5422.16 CNY, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Decompression by TNITs can quickly and effectively alleviate the symptoms of mechanical small bowel ileus in elderly individuals. It can also improve the success rate of conservative treatment and shorten the duration of hospital stay.