What does it feel like to have a bowel obstruction?

Lousy.: A small bowel obstruction usually occurs due to scar tissue from prior abdominal surgery, causing the bowel to kink like a garden hose. This causes the intestinal contents to back up, leading to cramping abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, and, most tellingly, the absence of passage of stool or gas--we call this obstipation. Management requires hospitalization and sometimes even surgery.