title: A unique case of recurrent metachronous volvulus of the gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: Colonic volvulus is an uncommon disease that predisposes patients to bowel obstruction in both the adult and pediatric population. The international literature offers few reports of synchronous or metachronous volvulus of 2 organs of the gastrointestinal tract. We describe a unique case of a patient who presented with recurrent metachronous volvulus of the sigmoid colon, cecum, and stomach. The patient underwent multiple operations for bowel obstruction, lysis of adhesions, and colon resection. The interesting intraoperative findings were a very long mesentery and peritoneal attachments of the intraabdominal gastrointestinal organs that made the stomach and colon extremely mobile and thus susceptible to volvulus. Prophylactic pexis of the cecum and the stomach during the first operation, in light of the elongated mesentery, may have prevented the subsequent episodes of volvulus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York 10003, USA. davgerin@chpnet.org
authors.forename: Dimitrios V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Avgerinos
authors.forename: Omar H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Llaguna
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Friedman
mesh_terms: D002429:Cecal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D045822:Intestinal Volvulus / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012810:Sigmoid Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D013277:Stomach Volvulus / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery