RESUMO
Management of small bowel obstruction varies depending on the cause and clinical status of patients. While most cases can be managed conservatively, a not-insignificant proportion of patients undergo surgical intervention. Laparotomy has long been the default approach for entering the abdomen in cases requiring surgical intervention, with laparoscopy largely being avoided due to abdominal distension and the risk of perforating bowels on entry. We present here the case of a 54-year-old woman who presented with signs and symptoms as well as radiological evidence of a closed-loop small bowel obstruction in her right lower quadrant. Following a brief period of nasogastric decompression, her abdominal distension improved, allowing for a laparoscopic entry where a pericaecal hernia was noted to be the cause of her obstruction. Extensive adhesiolysis without the use of an energy device successfully allowed for the reduction of the bowel contained within. No bowel resection was performed and the patient was discharged home on day 3 following her procedure. This case report successfully demonstrates the utility of using laparoscopy as an alternative to laparotomy in patients with a small bowel obstruction secondary to an internal hernia.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: This is the first case of delayed tracheal perforation post total thyroidectomy in the context of previous radiotherapy to the neck. Such a presentation can be easily misdiagnosed and managed as a seroma at significant risk to the patient, as the latter had no precipitating factors and cardiorespiratory compromise. There are nineteen previously described cases of delayed tracheal injury post thyroidectomy of variable severity and variable intervention. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year-old man presented with non-tender anterior neck surgical emphysema initially diagnosed on bedside ultrasound and plain X-ray, 22 days following total thyroidectomy and central neck dissection. His background was significant for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia requiring chemotherapy and cranio-spinal radiotherapy. He underwent total thyroidectomy, for multiple bilateral thyroid nodules found on cranio-spinal MRI surveillance concerning for follicular neoplasm. There were significant amount of adhesions tethering the thyroid secondary to prior radiotherapy but no tracheal injury intra-operatively. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: At presentation, no source of air leak was identified on Computer Tomography. He failed conservative management. During surgical exploration, a 2 mm tracheal perforation at the right cricothyroid joint was closed with the right sternothyroid muscle due to the proximity of the perforation with the recurrent right laryngeal nerve. Tisseel was applied over the repair. He recovered without further complications. CONCLUSION: Sudden onset neck swelling post thyroidectomy in the context of significant scaring from radiotherapy, should raise the suspicion of surgical emphysema in the neck patients and confirmed with plain x-ray. Such patients should have multidisciplinary tertiary care.
RESUMO
We report the first documented case of ovarian metastasis from a jejunal primary adenocarcinoma in an Australian patient. The presentation was unusual, initially a suspicious abdominal nodule in the epigastric area, which turned out to be an adenocarcinoma of possible intestinal origin. Gastroscopy and colonoscopy were performed with no suspicious lesion identified. Abdominal and pelvic ultrasound imaging showed a complex pelvic mass suspicious of ovarian cancer. Laparoscopy was performed to exclude possibility of ovarian cancer and small bowel cancer. The ovarian mass showed similar features from the epigastric nodule, again suggestive of intestinal primary. Definitive diagnosis was obtained when the patient represented 2 months later with malignant bowel obstruction requiring palliative resection of the proximal jejunum. This case demonstrates the difficulty in diagnosing ovarian metastasis from a small bowel primary, which has the potential to mimic an ovarian primary tumour clinically, and a large bowel or ovarian primary pathologically.
