I am sorry to hear about your uncle and your feeling that the medical system failed him. In my experience a small bowel obstruction is not such a benign condit

I am sorry to hear about your uncle and your feeling that the medical system failed him. In my experience a small bowel obstruction is not such a benign condition as you might think, it is a mortal condition if left untreated and has mortality rate between 10 and 25% if surgery is needed. For example if the cause was an entanglement, it could lead to occlusion of the bowel's nourishing arteries and cause irreversible necrosis. In those cases a septic surgery is necessary, the dead tissue is cut out below and above the lesion and the bowel has to be sowed back together. Sometimes the tissue seems ok but is in fact weakened, and rupture in the days following surgery. Sometimes it has already ruptured or cannot be sowed back immediately... It is in my opinion a very serious condition.