Pneumatosis intestinalis has been associated with gangrene of the bowel, collagen vascular disease, chronic bronchitis and asthma, ulcer disease and diverticulitis. Gangrene of the small bowel is a rare cause of acute abdomen, which is more often caused by arterial thrombosis or a volvulus. The radiological features of this condition are well described. The sonographic features of one case of g...

INTRODUCTION Acute mechanical intestinal obstruction (IO) is one of the leading causes of surgical admissions in most emergency departments worldwide. The causes of IO vary significantly depending on geographical location. The aim of this study was to identify the etiology, management and outcomes of patients with acute mechanical IO presenting in south-western Kenya. METHODS A 4 year (Novemb...

findings were obscured by excessive bowel gas and demonstrated dilated bowel loops and probable volvulus of the small bowel. The child was adequately resuscitated with intravenous fluids, antibiotics and red cell transfusion. As the child was critically ill, no further imaging was done. Once stabilized, an exploratory laparotomy was performed which revealed the jejunum and ileum filled with 150...

BACKGROUND Chylous ascites is an uncommon finding which is usually associated with recent abdominal/oncologic or retroperitoneal surgery. It is not usually seen in cases of acute obstruction. CASE PRESENTATION A patient who had previously undergone a laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction for early gastric cancer presented with acute abdominal pain and epigastri...

OBJECTIVE To report a case of intestinal malrotation predisposing to cecal volvulus following nonabdominal surgery in an adult. PRESENTATION AND INTERVENTION A 23-year-old male with known anorectal malformation developed a postoperative intestinal obstruction following percutaneous nephrolithotomy for left renal calculus. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a grossly dilated cecum (9 ...

An otherwise healthy 36-year-old man presented with sudden-onset right upper quadrant abdominal pain and vomiting. A bedside ultrasound, performed to evaluate hepatobiliary pathology, revealed a normal gallbladder but free intraperitoneal fluid. After an expedited CT and emergent explorative laparotomy, the patient was diagnosed with a small bowel obstruction with ischemia secondary to midgut v...

Volvulus is a common surgical emergency and in most of the cases requires prompt diagnosis and treatment in order to evolve favorably. We present you a case of a 6year-old male with a massive volvulus involving a large portion of small bowel and sigma that did not evolve favorable. There are no prospective, randomized studies comparing treatment options and the most frequently raised questions ...

Small bowel volvulus is a rare clinical entity which presents as recurrent intermittent abdominal pain after consumption of food. Although the entity is well described in the literature, diagnosis is often difficult due to its clinical presentation being similar to mesenteric ischemia. Herein we present the case of a 44-year-old male who presented to us with this condition.

Supervising Section Editor: Sean O. Henderson, MD Submission history: Submitted January 12, 2014; Revision received January 21, 2014; Accepted April 2, 2014 Electronically published May 12, 2014 Full text available through open access at http://escholarship.org/uc/uciem_westjem DOI: 10.5811/westjem.2014.4.20679 [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(4):359–360.] University of the Ryukyus, Department of Inf...

To the Editor: A 90-year-old man came to our emergency department complaining of a 3day history of progressively worsening abdominal pain. He reported that prior to the occurrence of abdominal pain, he had one loose bowel movement—but no loose bowel movements since. He denied any nausea or vomiting. Physical examination revealed the patient to be slightly distended and mildly tender to palpatio...