Ileal perforation in a patient with high spinal cord injury: report of a case

Assessing abdominal complications in patients who have previously suffered high spinal cord injury is very difficult because the resultant loss of sensory, motor, and reflux function of the abdominal wall can mask the typical signs of acute abdomen such as tenderness, muscle rigidity, and peritoneal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Surgery today (Tokyo, Japan) Japan), 2004, Vol.34 (1), p.65-67
Main Authors: Matsuo, Atsushi, Tokuyama, Yasuharu, Hosono, Yosiki, Hiraoka, Takamasa, Furuta, Tomohiko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Cervical Vertebrae - injuries
Humans
Ileum
Intestinal Perforation - diagnosis
Intestinal Perforation - etiology
Intestinal Perforation - surgery
Male
Spinal Cord Injuries - complications
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Summary:Assessing abdominal complications in patients who have previously suffered high spinal cord injury is very difficult because the resultant loss of sensory, motor, and reflux function of the abdominal wall can mask the typical signs of acute abdomen such as tenderness, muscle rigidity, and peritoneal rebound pain. We recently diagnosed a small intestinal perforation in a 77-year-old man with a C6-7 spinal cord injury sustained 14 years earlier. The patient was correctly diagnosed as having an acute abdominal condition, despite palsy of abdominal wall sensation. An emergency laparotomy was done and a 40-cm length of affected ileum, about 180 cm distal to the Treitz ligament, including a 1-cm perforation, was resected, followed by an end-to-end anastomosis. We report this case to raise awareness of the need for appropriate diagnosis and early surgical treatment of abdominal complications in spinal-cord-injured patients.
ISSN:0941-1291
1436-2813
DOI:10.1007/s00595-003-2625-0