A Case of Retroperitoneal Hernia in Paracolic Gutter of the Descending Colon

Takashi Nonaka, Yoshihito Shibata, Kazuo Tou, Seiji Honjyou and Tadayuki Oka

Department of Surgery, National Hospital Organization Ureshino Medical Center

We report a very rare case of an incarcerated internal hernia in a paracolic gutter of the descending colon. A 78-year-old man seen elsewhere for sudden abdominal pain onset and he sent to our hospital for internal hernia diagnosis was found in abdominal contrast Comupted tomography to have a small-intestine loop in the paracolic gutter of the outside descending colon, and contrast effect was poor. Suspecting a strangulated intestinal obstruction caused by an internal hernia, we conducted emergency surgery, finding that part of the small intestine had protruted through a defect of the paracolic gutter on the left side of the descending colon for 50 cm, becoming strangulated. We removed the strangulated intestine and closed the orfice.

Key words
internal hernia, strangulated intestinal obstruction, paracolic gutter hernia

Reprint requests
Takashi Nonaka Department of Surgery, National Hospital Organization Ureshino Medical Center
2436 Shimosyuku, Ureshino-cho, Ureshino, 843-0301 JAPAN

Accepted
January 30, 2008

To read the PDF file you will need Abobe Reader installed on your computer.