Relapse of ileus in patients with psychiatric disorders: A 2-year chart review.

OBJECTIVE: To explore risk factors for relapse of paralytic ileus in a psychiatric population.

METHOD: We conducted a systematic chart-review to examine two-year relapse rates in psychiatric patients who received treatment for ileus from 2008 to 2012. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and relapse of ileus.

RESULTS: Sixty-three subjects (38 women; age, 66.0 ± 11.3 years) were included; 62 subjects recovered from ileus. During the subsequent 2 years, 26 (41.3%) subjects experienced relapse. In the entire sample, relapse of ileus was associated with history of abdominal surgery (P=.03, odds ratio=4.34, 95% CI=1.15-16.42) and duration of psychiatric disorders (P=.02, odds ratio=1.00, 95% CI=1.00-1.00). In a subgroup of 43 subjects with schizophrenia, history of abdominal surgery (P=.01, odds ratio=12.09, 95% CI=1.78-82.15) and age (P=.02, odds ratio=1.12, 95% CI=1.02-1.23) predicted relapse of ileus.

CONCLUSIONS: Since relapse of ileus is common and can be serious in psychiatric patients, special attention is warranted to those who are old, have a history of abdominal surgery or a longer duration of psychiatric disorders to prevent relapse of ileus.