Postop. Ileus Screening Tool - Ileus After Surgery - Medical Algorithm

The Postoperative Ileus Screening Tool can be used to identify patients with ileus occurring after surgery.

Criteria:

(1) nausea and vomiting

(2) failure to advance diet

(3) lack of bowel sounds

(4) abdominal distention

(5) increased length of stay

(6) abdominal X-ray evidence of ileus

Criteria	Finding	Points
nausea and vomiting occurring > 24 hours postoperatively	no	0
	yes	1
unable to tolerate advancement of diet after 36 hours postoperatively	no	0
	yes	1
documented lack of bowel sounds > 36 hours postoperatively	no	0
	yes	1
marked abdominal distention	no	0
	yes	1
length of stay extended by > 1 day beyond average (excluding social and/or placement problems)	no	0
	yes	1
confirmed abdominal X-ray of an ileus	no	0
	yes	2

from Table 1, page 5

screening score =

= SUM(points for the 6 criteria)

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 0

• maximum score: 7

• A score >= 2 points indicates the presence of postoperative ileus.

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Postoperative Ileus Screening Tool of Bromenshenkel et al