Open AccessAn Unusual Case of Acute Dyspnoea: Acute Intrathoracic Gastric Volvulus with Probable Tension Gastrothorax
Author(s) -
Jean Bosco Masabarakiza,
Lingna Zhu,
Yilmaz Gorur,
Benoît Cardos,
Noël Lorenzo-Villalba,
Deeba Ali
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of case reports in internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.125
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 2284-2594
DOI - 10.12890/2021_002818
Subject(s) - medicine , gastric volvulus , volvulus , abdominal distension , vomiting , stomach , surgery , abdominal pain , mediastinal shift , anesthesia , radiology , lung
Acute gastric volvulus is a rare complication affecting 4% of hiatal hernias. It is described as an abnormal rotation of the stomach around a transverse or longitudinal axis and can be intra-abdominal or intrathoracic. Intrathoracic gastric volvulus can lead to tension gastrothorax, which is defined as the presence of a massive gastric distension in the chest cavity causing a mediastinal shift with haemodynamic instability and a risk of cardiorespiratory arrest. We report a case of intrathoracic gastric volvulus with probable tension gastrothorax. Early diagnosis of gastrothorax with computed tomography and immediate insertion of a nasogastric tube resulted in rapid clinical improvement. Surgical intervention is the treatment of choice.