Trocar site hernia after laparoscopy : Early recognition prevents catastrophic sequelae

Published by Elsevier Inc..

BACKGROUND: Trocar site hernia is a rare but potentially serious complication of laparoscopic surgery that may lead to bowel incarceration and strangulation. Prompt diagnosis by emergency physicians facilitates timely intervention that prevents bowel necrosis. We report a case of trocar site hernia presenting to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain that was correctly diagnosed and promptly managed.

CASE REPORT: A 25-year-old woman, gravida 2, abortion 2, underwent outpatient surgery and laparoscopic removal of a ruptured right-sided tubal pregnancy without any intraoperative difficulties. However, 48 h later, she presented to the ED complaining of acute abdominal pain and nausea. Computed tomography revealed a loop of small bowel herniating through a 12-mm right lower quadrant trocar site defect in the fascia. She was taken back to the operating room, where the computed tomography findings were confirmed and the entrapped bowel was successfully reduced and the fascial defect repaired. The patient was discharged home feeling much improved. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Trocar site hernia is a rare but potentially dangerous complication that can present with acute symptoms or be asymptomatic if late in onset. Intestinal necrosis begins as soon as 6 h after constriction of blood flow to entrapped bowel, so timely intervention is critically important. Therefore, trocar site hernias should be considered in patients presenting with abdominal complaints after laparoscopic surgery and included in the differential diagnosis of bowel obstruction.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:63

Enthalten in:

The Journal of emergency medicine - 63(2022), 6 vom: 06. Dez., Seite 791-794

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Kwon, Caroline S [VerfasserIn]
Vaseeharan, Athmika [VerfasserIn]
Sauer, Mark V [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Case Reports
Journal Article
Laparoscopy
Small bowel obstruction
Surgical complication
Trocar site hernia

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 19.12.2022

Date Revised 28.02.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.jemermed.2022.09.006

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM350347352