Acute gastric outlet obstruction secondary to exclusive paraoesophageal small bowel herniation: a case report

Introduction: Herniation of abdominal viscera into the thorax may occur as a consequence of abnormal defects in the diaphragm. In adults, the most common condition relates to herniations through a weakened crural orifice via which the oesophagus normally traverses. These hiatus hernias are classified as types I–IV depending on the extent of visceral involvement.Case report: We present here a case of type IV hiatus hernia with massive mediastinal herniation of the small bowel, yet remarkable in that the stomach itself remained completely intra-abdominal. Gastric outlet obstruction occurred as a consequence of extrinsic proximal small bowel compression.Discussion: To our knowledge this is the first reported case of paraoesophageal hernia exclusively involving small bowel, without involving any part of the stomach, and yet causing gastric outlet obstruction.