Surgery still opens an unexpected bag of worms! An intraperitoneal live female Dirofilaria worm: case report and review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
Intra-abdominal filarial infection is extremely rare.


METHODS
Case report and review of the literature.


RESULTS
A 63-year-old man presented with a painful swelling in the peri-umbilical area. An urgent laparotomy was performed for suspected strangulated peri-umbilical hernia. A live intraperitoneal worm was retrieved during the repair of the hernial sac that proved to be a female Dirofilaria immitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Only one previous case of intraperitoneal involvement by dirofilariasis is described in the medical literature. Ours is the first case report of a live dirofilarial worm in the abdominal cavity of a human being.
Abbas
Khudair Fadhil
KF
Department of Surgery, King George Hospital, Goodmayers, Essex, United Kingdom.
El-Monem
Siam G Abd
SG
Malik
Zeeshan
Z
Khan
Amir M
AM
D034841:Abdominal Cavity / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000601:surgery*; D000818:Animals; D004183:Dirofilaria immitis; D004184:Dirofilariasis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged