A Case Report of Meckel's Diverticulum Torsion

Hirokazu Matsutomo, Yutaka Iida, Nagaki Matsubara, Kazuo Kaya

Department of Surgery, Mino Municipal Hospital

A case of necrotic Meckel's diverticulum due to torsion at its neck, resulting in peritonitis, is reported. A 35-year-old man was admitted with the complaint of severe lower abdominal pain. Emergency laparotomy was performed under the diagnosis of acute peritonitis. Meckel's diverticulum, 70×40×30 mm in size, was found on the ileum about 50 cm proximal to Bauhin's valve. It was twisted about 360° counterclockwise at its neck and necrotized. The Meckel's diverticulum was resected. Torsion is a rare complication of Meckel's diverticulum, and we found reports of only 10 other cases in Japan. Those diverticula were also large, greater than 6 cm in length, and had a narrow neck. It is reported that large size and a narrow neck of the diverticulum may be an anatomical factor in torsion of Meckel's diverticulum. In our case, we thought that the peritonitis was the result of torsion of Meckel's diverticulum with the same factor.

Key words
Meckel's diverticulum, torsion peritonitis

Reprint requests
Hirokazu Matsutomo Department of Surgery, Mino Municipal Hospital
2461 Tokiwa-cho, Mino city, 501-3722 JAPAN

Accepted
December 3, 1997

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