1 Jul 2007Case Report
Misleading interpretations of distended post-op bowel in Helical CT scan
Eustathia Kailidou 1Emmanuel Pavlakis 1Vasiliki Katsiva 1Euthimios Avgerinos 1Michael Tibishrani 1Konstantinos Vlasis 1Nicolas Condilis 2Panayiotis Skandalakis 1Evaggelos Pikoulis 1Dimitrios Filippou 1
Affiliations
Article Info
1 Department of Radiology, Asklipeion Hospital, Athens, Greece
2 National Centre of Emergency Care – E.K.A.B., Athens, Greece
Ann. Ital. Chir., 2007, 78(4), 315-318;
Published: 1 Jul 2007
Copyright © 2007 Annali Italiani di Chirurgia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Differential diagnosis of distended post-op colon can be misleading when based solely to imaging findings. A case report of an artefact giving the impression of faecal leak or foreign body (gossypiboma) in Spiral Computerized Tomography after colonic surgery is presented. The patient was managed conservatively due to the lack of clinical evidence of abdominal emergency. A second CT scan twenty days later revealed no findings besides minor colonic diverticulas.
Keywords
- Bowel wall thickness
- Distended colon
- Gossypiboma
- Anastomotic leakage
- Spongiform mass