Which is worse, having a chronic paralytic ileus or getting 75 x rays of your belly? I'm not sure which is worse. But that's what one patient of mine has endured over a 15 month spana. Seventy five abdominal x rays. That's five x rays a month, every month, for 15 months. In addition, he's had 8 CT scans of his abdomen and pelvis to evaluate the paralytic ileus he's had since he moved to Happy's town from Los Angeles. If my memory serves me right, that is the equivalent of about 2000-3000 xrays.
And how many admissions has he had for paralytic ileus or bowel obstruction or partial bowel obstruction (what ever the doc of the day wants to dictate)? He's had 26 admissions to the hospital for paralytic ileus in a fifteen month span. That's incredible. Twenty six admissions for paralytic ileus. And every one of them is the same. Nasogratic decompression, fluids and time.
At this point, I think the obvious needs stated. Medical managment of his paralytic ileus has been a complete failure. The Merck Manual gives a concise summary for paralytic ileus. You can't get admitted to the hospital 26 times and call this quality medicine. The only other person that comes close to this kind of medical failure in my experience is the lady who got 9 CT scans for her lung disease.
So what are we to do about this man's paralytic ileus? I'm pretty sure his paralytic ileus isn't do to something like a jellyfish bite. And I'm pretty sure his paralytic ileus isn't do to a giant mesenteric lipoma. I'm not sure what is. But I am sure giving him more radiation is not the answer.
