title: Visceral situs inversus in three patients.
abstract: Three examples of patients with complete visceral situs inversus are presented from nineteen years of clinical experience. The first case concerns a 16-year-old woman, who suffered from appendicitis and was operated on one day after the admission. The second case presents a 63-year-old woman admitted and operated on because of colorectal carcinoma. The last case involves a 66-year-old man taken in and operated on due to stomach cancer. A surgical patient with complete visceral situs inversus forces an operator to abandon currently used operating standards. This situation should especially mobilize operator's watchfulness while performing the procedure. Non-typical circumstances occurring during operation increase frequency of incidence of intra-operative complications.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Postgraduate Medical Education Centre, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bielecki
authors.forename: Mariusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gregorczyk
authors.forename: Lech
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baczuk
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D001062:Appendectomy / Q000379:methods; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D012857:Situs Inversus / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery