By Surgeon Shirley Deakin, F.R.O.S., Eng. (Exam ) Sfc. The question of operative interference in cases of intestinal obstruction is undoubtedly one of the gravest in its possible consequences, and one of the most difficult in its determination tbat can be presented to the surgeon. The diagnosis of intestinal obstruction is difficult, the obstructions are always great, and the data for operative...

Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the ectopic development of normal bone within soft tissue that can occur after traumatic injury. It is uncommon and may be missed or misdiagnosed, which can lead to complications. We report the case of an 84-year-old male with a previous history of a laparotomy who underwent resection of an intra-abdominal tumor through a midline incision. On postoperative day s...

Cholelithiasis is diagnosed in 10% of the population of the USA and Western Europe. A rare but serious complication of cholelithiasis is the obstruction of the digestive tract caused by a gall-stone (Bernard syndrome). It can add up to 1-4% of the mechanical obstructions of a small intestine among the general population but it can result in nonstriangulational mechanical obstructions of a small...

BLUE rubber bleb nevus syndrome, a rare vascular malformation involving the gastrointestinal tract, may result in clinically significant acute and chronic bleeding. The bleeding is generally chronic and unremitting, with continual melena necessitating transfusion or surgical management. Definitive surgical management is frustrating because the lesions are usually multiple (often numbering in th...

We report an incarcerated internal hernia in a huge irreducible parastomal hernia-"hernia within hernia." A 70-year-old obese woman with diabetes who underwent an abdomino-perineal resection 20 years ago was admitted to our hospital with 20 years history of a huge irreducible bulge, 25 cm in diameter. An internal hernia due to an adhesive band extending from the sac wall to proximal colon was f...

A surgical compress retained in the abdominal cavity following surgery is a serious problem. Here, we describe a 33-year-old female who was admitted with abdominal pain, vomiting, no passage of gas or feces, and abdominal distension for 3 days. She had a splenectomy at another medical center 4 years previously. An upright plain abdominal film revealed small bowel obstruction with marked small b...

Peutz-Jeghers syndrome is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder characterized by intestinal hamartomatous polyps in association with mucocutaneous pigmentations. Here we present a case of a 30-year-old woman who was hospitalized and underwent diagnostic procedures because of crampy abdominal pain. Physical examination on admission revealed pigmented spots around lips and on the oral mucosa. ...

A bezoar is a concretion of foreign or indigestible matter in the alimentary canal and is usual cause of gastric obstruction. Bezoars can become fragmented and migrate downward leading to intestinal obstruction. Diagnosis of phytobezoar has become challenging in clinical practice due to lack of patient history and inability of patient to correlate preceding events with the episode of bowel obst...