Abdominal Imaging - Case Report

Closed perforation of the small bowel secondary to a phytobezoar: imaging findings

  • Suna Özhan Oktar
  • Gonca Erbaş
  • Cem Yücel
  • Esra Aslan
  • Hakan Özdemir

Received Date: 18.07.2005 Accepted Date: 10.10.2005 Diagn Interv Radiol 2007;13(1):19-22

Small bowel perforation secondary to phytobezoars is a rare clinical entity, which is not well-documented in the radiological literature. Sonographic and computed tomography (CT) findings of a case of closed small bowel perforation secondary to phytobezoars in a patient with previous gastric surgery are presented. Both abdominal ultrasound and CT examinations revealed a collection containing air at the left lower quadrant as well as neighboring intraluminal masses suggestive of bezoars. We propose that appropriate CT examination is a very useful imaging modality for evaluating this kind of bowel perforation.

Keywords: intestinal perforation • ultrasonography • computed tomography