Intestinal obstruction by an enterolith from a perforated giant Meckel's diverticulum: diagnosis with CT reconstructed images.
Complications caused by Meckel's enteroliths are very rare. Diagnosis is not usually made before surgery because symptoms are often of little value and imaging may be difficult to interpret. Computed tomography (CT) scanning, which is increasingly performed in emergency situations, could help make the diagnosis. We describe a 37-year-old man with intestinal obstruction caused by an enterolith resulting from a giant Meckel's diverticulum. The diagnosis was suggested preoperatively through the use of abdominal CT scanning with reconstructed pictures. A resection of the small bowel and diverticulum was performed with immediate anastomosis. The postoperative course was uneventful. Diagnosis of enterolith from Meckel's diverticulum can be suggested by CT frontal reconstructed sections in patients with small bowel obstruction and abdominal calcified opacities. This procedure could reduce the delay between onset of symptoms and adequate treatment before perforation and peritonitis occur.
Trésallet
Christophe
C
Department of General Surgery, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Assitance Publique-Hôspitaux de Paris, Pitié Hospital, Paris, France.
Renard-Penna
Raphaëlle
R
Nguyen-Thanh
Quang
Q
Cardot
Vincent
V
Chigot
Jean-Paul
JP
Menegaux
Fabrice
F
D000328:Adult; D002137:Calculi / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008467:Meckel Diverticulum / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed