ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of John, Who is a 54-year-old man who had a surgery for a carcinoma of the colon. He has been having problems with nausea and vomiting. Constipation, which can reduce the frequency of opening bowels, causes nausea and vomiting and may even cause a physical obstruction if severe enough. A bowel obstruction is not always due to a physical blockage. If the bowel slows or stops working this will have a similar effect to a bowel obstruction. Nasogastric tubes are very inefficient at easing the symptoms of bowel obstruction, but can help in reducing distress due to faeculant vomiting caused by infected small bowel contents. The commonest cause of pain is colic caused by the bowel trying to push bowel contents against the obstruction. It usually comes in regular waves, each lasting several minutes.
