Long-term follow-up of the use of the Jones' intestinal tube in adhesive small bowel obstruction

INTRODUCTION Intestinal intubation with a Jones' tube has been suggested to reduce the incidence of recurrent adhesive obstruction. This paper describes our experience of this technique. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective case-note review was performed on 68 patients admitted to a teaching hospital who were identified as having had the Jones' intestinal tube placed over an 11-year period from 1980 to 1991, with a follow-up to 2003. The indication for placement and outcome following placement of the tube were documented with particular reference to recurrence of adhesive small bowel obstruction. RESULTS Data on 63 patients were available. Of these, 7 had the Jones' tube placed prophylactically after pouch surgery and were thus excluded from the main study. Of the remaining 56 patients, all had the Jones' tube placed for recurrent adhesive small bowel obstruction with a median follow-up of 92 months, representing 353 patient-years. In 51 patients, the Jones' tube was placed during emergency surgery, while five others had it placed electively. A total of 1.7 cases of adhesive small bowel obstruction per 100 years of patient follow-up were identified following use of the Jones' tube compared to 12.9 cases per 100 patient-years prior to the use of the Jones' tube. CONCLUSIONS Intestinal intubation with a Jones' tube is a safe and effective method of preventing recurrent adhesive obstruction.