Eighteen patients were examined; they were suffering from small bowel obstruction due to adhesions (7 cases), hernia (3 cases), carcinoma (2 cases), metastasis from melanoma (1 case), radiation enteritis (2 cases), intramural hematoma (2 cases), and peritoneal carcinosis (1 case). CT capabilities in showing the site and the cause of obstruction were evaluated. CT was performed after conventional radiology in 13 cases, while in 5 cases it was the first exam and demonstrated the condition as an occasional finding. In all cases i.v. contrast agents were administered. Filling of the intestinal loop by oral contrast agent was never performed since the hypodense fluid present in the distended intestinal loops allowed good evaluation of intestinal walls. CT always showed the level of the obstruction thanks to the presence of the distended loops (phi: 4-8 cm) above the condition and of collapsed loops below. In 8/18 cases (44%) it was possible to show the cause of the obstruction. Those due to neoplasms, herniae and intramural hematomas were correctly diagnosed. On the contrary, it was not possible to identify the cause of the obstructions due to adhesions, radiation enteritis and peritoneal metastases because of the absence, in such cases, of specific parietal alterations. According to our results, CT is suitable in patients suffering from small bowel obstruction because it allows: to always show the site of the obstruction and, in some cases, its cause; to diagnose closed loop obstructions; to obtain a simultaneous staging in neoplastic patients.