[Small bowel obstruction: decompression by suction through an enterotomy (author's transl)].

Decompression using a sucking apparatus with many large openings, inserted through an enterotomy, is a fast and suitable method. The danger of wound infection can be considerably reduced by careful technique and by antibiotics. Nevertheless, open suction should be used only when the peritoneal cavity is already infected, or when closed decompression by retrograde stripping into the stomach is not possible.