A prospective protocol for treatment of malignant inoperable bowel obstruction was implemented at Grenoble University Hospital Center for 4 years. All 80 episodes of obstruction resulted from peritoneal carcinomatosis and none could expect another treatment cure. The protocol comprised three successive stages. Stage I included treatment for 5 days with a corticosteroid, antiemetic, anticholinergic, and analgesic. Stage II provided a somatostatin analogue if vomiting persisted. After 3 days, Stage III provided a venting gastrostomy. Obstruction relief with symptom control was obtained by medical treatment in 29 cases and symptom control occurred alone in an additional 32 cases. Ten patients were relieved by venting gastrostomy. Symptom control without permanent nasogastric tube (NGT) placement occurred in 72 episodes (90%). Eight patients with refractory vomiting were obliged to continue the NGT until death. Fifty-eight obstruction episodes (73%) were controlled in 10 days or less. Median time before gastrostomy was 17 days. Median survival was 31 days. This series suggests that a staged protocol for the treatment of inoperable malignant bowel obstruction is highly effective in relieving symptoms. A subgroup experiences relief of obstruction using this approach.