Frequently asked questions
Answers for hospitals and professional collaborators considering IMPEL.
About the study
What is IMPEL?
IMPEL is the International Multi-center Profile of Emergency Large-Bowel Obstruction Management and Outcomes. It is a time-bound, prospective, non-randomized clinical audit and service-evaluation initiative describing routine care for adults with mechanical large-bowel obstruction.
Which study description should my centre use?
Use the current IMPEL protocol, version 1.0 dated 1 May 2026, together with your local approved governance process.
Does IMPEL change treatment or assign an intervention?
No. IMPEL records routine care and does not randomize patients, allocate treatment, or direct clinical decisions. The treating team remains responsible for all care.
What does “time-bound” mean?
Each participating centre captures all eligible adult cases during a consecutive 90-day local inclusion period within the predefined six-month global study window. Follow-up extends to six months after index admission.
Eligibility and case identification
Which patients are screened?
Adults aged 18 years or older admitted with mechanical large-bowel obstruction, defined radiologically, clinically, or intraoperatively. Operative and non-operative cases are eligible, including obstruction associated with malignancy, volvulus, benign stricture, extrinsic compression, hernia, or perforation attributable to obstruction.
How does a centre find consecutive cases?
Site teams use routine sources such as emergency admissions, radiology reports, surgical handover lists, admission logs, and emergency operating-theatre records. The objective is complete consecutive case ascertainment during the defined window.
Can patients sign up through this website?
No. This site is for hospital teams and professional collaborators. It is not a patient enrolment portal and does not provide clinical advice.
Governance and data
Does every centre have the same ethics classification?
No. Each centre obtains its own written audit, service-evaluation, ethics, privacy, and information-governance determination before case inclusion. This website does not determine local classification.
What information is transferred?
The protocol requires source data to be de-identified before transfer, with any local linkage files retained securely at the centre. Central access is role-restricted and logged. The local approved process controls what a centre may collect or transfer.
What outcomes are followed?
IMPEL records in-hospital and 30-day outcomes, complications, readmission, reintervention, and six-month stoma status. Patient-reported gastrointestinal recovery may be recorded using PRO-diGI where available through routine follow-up pathways.
Collaboration and updates
How are contributions recognized?
Contribution and authorship decisions are made transparently for each manuscript using documented roles and the applicable collaborative framework. Contact the team before beginning a subsidiary analysis.
How are live updates shared?
Aggregate centre and study updates are posted on the Live updates page after review and release by the study team.