Open AccessGas in gallbladder—gallstone ileus?
Author(s) -
Siang Wei Gan,
Reizal Mohd Rosli,
George Kiroff,
Abdullah Rana,
Darren Tonkin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of surgical case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.14
H-Index - 3
ISSN - 2042-8812
DOI - 10.1093/jscr/rjz243
Subject(s) - medicine , gallstone ileus , presentation (obstetrics) , abdomen , radiology , ileus , gallbladder , computed tomography , bowel obstruction , acute abdomen , general surgery , surgery , fistula
Gallstone ileus is an uncommon presentation among acute surgical patients. Its diagnosis is often delayed due to its non-specific clinical presentation. We report the case of an 81-year-old gentleman with a 2-day history of small bowel obstruction (SBO). He had a history of gallstone disease and no past surgical history. Plain abdominal radiography was consistent with SBO. A computed tomography (CT) abdomen scan would be warranted given the presentation of SBO in a virgin abdomen. However, this case emphasizes the importance of early CT imaging in a case of suspected gallstone ileus given that the diagnosis could not be made on plain abdominal radiography. CT abdomen is superior in detecting small amounts of gas and at discriminating soft tissue density.