Acute intestinal obstruction caused by gastrointestinal foreign bodies in children: a comparison of laparoscopically assisted approach and open surgery.

Objective: This study aims to explore the appropriate surgical treatment method for acute intestinal obstruction caused by gastrointestinal foreign bodies in children through a comparison of clinical characteristics in patients treated via laparoscopically assisted approach and open surgery.

Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 12 children with acute intestinal obstruction caused by gastrointestinal foreign bodies treated at Shanghai Children's Hospital and Huzhou Maternity and Child Care Hospital from June 2019 to June 2024. Basic information, treatment methods, and prognoses of the patients were collected. General data, operation time, postoperative fasting time, postoperative hospital stay, and intraoperative and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Categorical data were compared using Fisher's exact test. Normally distributed continuous data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and analyzed using an independent samples t-test; non-normally distributed data were expressed as M (P25, P75) and analyzed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: Six cases underwent laparoscopic transumbilical extended incision, successfully extracting the intestines and removing the foreign bodies without converting to open surgery. Compared to Six cases undergoing traditional open surgery during the same period, the postoperative fasting time and postoperative hospital stay in the laparoscopic group were 4 (5 ± 3.65) days and 5.5 (5 ± 7.5) days, respectively, while in the traditional open surgery group, they were 5 (4.25 ± 6) days and 6 (5 ± 8.6) days, respectively; the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The laparoscopic group had significantly shorter operation time and faster postoperative recovery. The acceptance of the laparoscopically assisted approach by the families was significantly higher than that of the open surgery treatment.

Conclusion: The method of extracting obstructed intestines and removing foreign bodies via laparoscopic-assisted transumbilical extended incision has advantages over open surgery for treating acute intestinal obstruction caused by gastrointestinal foreign bodies, such as shortening hospital stay and operation time. However, for children with secondary gastrointestinal perforation caused by magnetic foreign bodies, open surgery, due to its broader exploration scope, is more advantageous for detecting occult perforations.