Case Report
PhytobezoarInduced Small Bowel Obstruction in a Young Male with Virgin Abdomen
Edward P. Manning1*, Vikram Vattipallly2, Masooma Niazi3 and Ajay Shah21Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2Department of Surgery, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Bronx, NY, USA
3Department of Pathology, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Bronx, NY, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Edward P. Manning
Department of Medicine
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Tel: 1718-430-2000
E-mail: Edward.Manning@uphs.upenn.edu
Received date: March 6, 2015; Accepted date: March 19, 2015; Published date: March 25, 2015
Citation: Manning EP, Vattipallly V, Niazi M, Shah A (2015) PhytobezoarInduced Small Bowel Obstruction in a Young Male with Virgin Abdomen. J Gastrointest Dig Syst 5:266. doi:10.4172/2161-069X.1000266
Copyright: © 2015 Manning E, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Phytobezoars are a rare cause of small bowel obstruction. Such cases are most commonly associated with previous abdominal surgery or poor dentition or psychiatric conditions. A 40 year old man with a virgin abdomen and excellent dentition and no underlying psychiatric condition presented with an acute abdomen. CT scan revealed a transition point between dilated proximal loops of small bowel and collapsed distal loops. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a phytobezoar unable to be milked into the cecum and an enterectomy with primary anastamosis was performed without complication. A detailed history revealing several less common predisposing factors for phytobezoars should increase clinical suspicion of a phytobezoarinduced small bowel obstruction in the setting of an acute abdomen. Vigilance in presentations of an acute abdomen improves the usefulness of medical imaging, such as a CT, to detect phytobezoars. Understanding mechanisms of phytobezoar formation helps guide management and may prevent surgery.
