title: Posterior rectus sheath hernia causing intermittent small bowel obstruction.
abstract: A posterior rectus sheath hernia is an abdominal wall hernia that is rarely encountered. Owing to its rarity, it can be easily overlooked in the setting of a patient presenting with abdominal pain. We report a case of a posterior rectus sheath hernia that caused intermittent small bowel obstruction. The unusual aspects of this case are that the defect was large, measuring 6 cm in the transverse diameter, and that it contained small bowel within a large portion of the rectus sheath. Because the defect was large and affected nearly the entire posterior rectus sheath, it was difficult to discern on computed tomography until a small bowel obstruction developed. In this case, a limited awareness of this clinical entity contributed to the delay in diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lenobel
authors.affiliation: Professional Radiology Inc., Cincinnati, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lenobel
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006555:Hernia, Ventral / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: CT; abdomen; abdominal pain; hernia; rectus sheath; small bowel obstruction