| The absence of bowel sounds for a full 5 minutes strongly suggests the existence of intestinal atony or ileus, which has many causes. |
| This in turn leads to gastric atony, floating kidney, hernia, rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse and other forms of prolapse. |
| The muscle of the bowel is in a state of fatty degeneration, and atony and dilatation of the gut follow. |
| The last writer especially distinguishes clearly between dilatation due to stenosis and that due to atony. |
| Another complication suffered by these patients is bladder atony, in which the muscles of the bladder lose their tone. |
| They should ensure that nursing practices are in place to allow early detection of atony or haemorrhage. |
