Ileus

Ileus (/ˈɪliəs/; from Greek εἰλεός eileós, "intestinal obstruction") is a disruption of the normal propulsive ability of the gastrointestinal tract. Although ileus originally referred to any lack of digestive propulsion, including bowel obstruction, up-to-date medical usage restricts its meaning to those disruptions caused by the failure of peristalsis, rather than by mechanical obstruction. Although certain older terms such as gallstone ileus and meconium ileus persist in usage, they are now misnomers (which does not mean that they are incorrect or obsolete, but rather that they are known to not sound like what they really are).

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms of ileus include, but are not limited to:

Cause

Decreased propulsive ability may be broadly classified as caused either by bowel obstruction or intestinal atony or paralysis. However, instances with symptoms and signs of a bowel obstruction occur, but with the absence of a mechanical obstruction, mainly in acute colonic pseudo-obstruction, Ogilvie's syndrome.