Misdiagnosed Meckel's Diverticulum Causing Severe Hemorrhage - Case Report

Meckel's diverticulum was first described by Fabricius Hildanus in 1598. The name derives from the German anatomist Johann Friedrich Meckel who described the embryological and pathological features in 1809 [1]. Although it generally remains silent but life threatening complications may arise making it an important structure for having a detailed knowledge of its anatomical and pathophysiological properties to deal with such complications. Meckel's diverticulum has varied presentations in children and often becomes a diagnostic challenge. We present a 14-year-old boy with a history of recurrent periumbilical pain and one episode of melena. His symptoms were undervalued during a previous hospitalization in a pediatric units until he was brought to our clinic for abdominal pain and massive rectal bleeding. The intervention performed in emergency identified a perforated bleeding Meckel's diverticulum with massive hemoperitoneum, that was resected. Our observation shows that severe hemorrhage due to a Meckel's diverticulum although exceptional, is possible.