Failure of the administered contrast to reach the caecum within four hours of oral administration is strongly predictive of failure of mechanical obstruction to resolve and may help with subsequent decision making with respect to timing of further surgery. The ability to provide effective nutritional and metabolic support for patients with all types of intestinal failure is critically dependent upon avoiding complications of parenteral nutrition, the most important of which is undoubtedly catheter-related blood stream infection (CRBSI). Guidelines have been developed for the prevention of CRBSI. Definitive surgery for reconstruction of the gastrointestinal tract is technically demanding and often undertaken in stages. Initial radiological assessment of patients with type 2 IF is almost exclusively designed to enable early detection and treatment of abdominal infection. Contrast studies of the proximal and distal gastrointestinal tracts and fistulography are routinely undertaken, and, where appropriate, imaging of the biliary and urogenital tracts may also be required.