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Gallstone Ileus: A Rare Cause of Mechanical Bowel Obstruction.
- Source :
-
Cureus [Cureus] 2023 Feb 28; Vol. 15 (2), pp. e35588. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Feb 28 (Print Publication: 2023). - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- A gallstone ileus is a rare cause of mechanical bowel obstruction, accounting for 1% to 4% of all cases. Twenty-five percent of the patients are 65 years of age or older and often present previous significant medical conditions. The authors report the case of an 87-year-old male patient, admitted with the diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia, who later developed frequent episodes of biliary vomiting, intermittent constipation, and abdominal distension. Abdominal imaging (ultrasound and computed tomography (CT)) showed evidence of a localized inflammatory process in a small bowel loop but excluded vesicular lithiasis. After a failure in the medical approach with antibiotics, an exploratory laparotomy was performed, identifying the intestinal occlusion area, followed by an enterolithotomy at the specific area, and extraction of a 4 cm stone of acellular material. Posteriorly, the patient was treated for three weeks with a carbapenem and physical rehabilitation was promptly initiated with full recovery of his previous status. Gallstone ileus is a very challenging diagnosis and surgery is the treatment of choice. In elderly patients, it is important to promote prompt physical rehabilitation to prevent prolonged bed rest.<br />Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.<br /> (Copyright © 2023, Santos et al.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2168-8184
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Cureus
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- 37007418
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.35588