Objective: To investigate the effects of early application of somatostatin in non-surgical treatment of adhesive intestinal obstruction. Methods: A total of 131 cases of different types of intestinal obstruction due to adhesions were treated in our hospotal during the recent seven years, The 131 patients were divided into treatment group (71 cases, Stilamin treatment) and control group (60 cases, only conventional treatment). Patients in treatment group were give conventional treatment together with stilamin 6mg given by intravenous drip 24 h continuously, average 3.9 (2-6.5）days. The efficacy between the two groups after treatment was compared.
Results: The gastrointestinal decompression fluid from the treatment group was significantly less than that of the control group, ［(227±152) mL/d, (522±186) mL/d,  respectively (P<0.05)］. Abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and passage of flatus were significantly improved in treatment group than that in control group (P<0.05). The two groups had no difference in rate of conversion to operation (P＞0.05).  There was one case of intestinal necrosis in treatment group which was significantly less than 6 cases in control group (P<0.05). KPS scores of the treatment group and  the control group were 57±6 and 44±8, respectively (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Basic conventional therapy plus early intravenous infusion of somatostatin can markedly improve the  clinical symptoms of  various types of intestinal obstruction. Moreover，it can reduce the incidence of intestinal necrosis，but does not reduce the operation rate.