[Hypoproteinemia causing postoperative "interstitial" paralytic ileus].

On the basis of recent pathophysiological data and clinical observations in three patients, this paper draws attention to the commonly neglected importance of postoperative hypoproteinemia as the cause of an edema of the intestinal wall with a consequent "interstitial" paralytic ileus. The characteristic features of this syndrome are its onset between the third and the eighth postoperative day; the absence of other known causes of intestinal hypomotility; the benign, but protracted course without treatment; and the therapeutic success achieved by the correction of a hypoproteinemic fluid overload with concentrated albumin and a diuretic. In addition, parenteral hyperalimentation and Rheomacrodex-Sorbit may be indicated, but the hypoproteinemia should at any rate be corrected.