Meckel's diverticulitis or Meckel's associated pathology frequently presents in childhood with gastrointestinal bleeding. It is rarely seen in adults. It is a congenital abnormality that commonly goes undetected. We present a case of a perforated Meckel's diverticulum due to fishbone ingestion in an elderly gentleman. The aim of this case report is to highlight the rare presentation of a perforation in a Meckel's diverticulum due to an extrinsic pathology and to outline diagnostic and management options in cases of Meckel's diverticulum.
Meckel's diverticulum is a relatively common gastrointestinal entity which occasionally causes complications. Meckel's diverticulum is classically described to mimic acute appendicitis when inflamed as well as being a cause of unexplained luminal gastrointestinal bleeding. An unusual cause of spontaneous non traumatic haemoperitoneum found during surgery performed for a suspected acute appendicitis in a 22-year old female is described. The patient was found to have a significant haemoperitoneum due to a bleeding serosal vessel of a Meckel's diverticulum. The diverticulum was routinely excised. It was macroscopically and histologically devoid of inflammation. The bleeding vessel was not found to be abnormal or part of an arteriovenous malformation.
Localised dilatation of a segment of the intestine without any macroscopically-identifiable cause is rare, and has been reported in association with omphalocoele in only 14 children up to 2006. In most of these cases, the segmental intestinal dilatation (SID) was either diagnosed incidentally, or due to presentation with partial or complete intestinal obstruction. We report, for the first time, a 37-week-old neonate with bowel perforation in SID associated with omphalocoele. In our case, a long thin vessel that resembled the mesodiverticular vessel of a Meckel's diverticulum was present in the dilated segment, supporting the view that SID and Meckel's diverticulum may be embryologically related.
Meckel's diverticulum has several known complications including diverticulitis and perforation. The presence of mesodiverticular band or a band from the diverticulum to the anterior abdominal wall is also described and can cause obstruction or rotation of the small bowel leading to volvulus. Meckel's diverticulum is also well known as the lead point for intussusception. It may be lined by ectopic gastric mucosa and can cause life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding. We report a neonate who presented with acute intestinal obstruction secondary to a large, mobile Meckel's diverticulum which due to a direct compression effect on the adjacent small bowel caused mechanical intestinal obstruction. Diagnosis was confirmed at laparoscopy, and treated by curative surgical resection. This is the first report of a large mobile Meckel's diverticulum causing small bowel obstruction due to direct compression that was managed by minimally invasive surgical resection.
Anticipation of complications is of paramount importance for a surgeon. Incisional hernia is a well-known
complication for abdominal surgeries. Risk factors such as increasing age, obesity, male gender are well
known. Intestinal obstruction, strangulation and perforation are imminent complications of this type of
hernia if they become incarcerated. Common contents of a ventral incisional hernia are small bowel, large
bowel and omentum. Even though Meckel’s diverticulum is a common gastrointestinal anomaly, it is rarely
found to be the content of a hernial sac. A hernia sac containing Meckel’s diverticulum is also known as
Littre’s hernia. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature. Thus here we present a case of
perforated Meckel’s diverticulum that was entrapped in the ventral incisional hernia.