Background and aims: Abdominal cocoon (AC) is a rare abdominal disease with nonspecific clinical features, and it is difficult to be diagnosed before operation and hard to be treated in clinical practice. The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnosis and treatment of AC.
Methods: The clinical manifestations, findings during surgery, treatments, and follow-up results of 26 cases of AC were retrospectively studied from January 2001 to January 2015.
Results: All of 26 cases were diagnosed as AC definitely by laparotomy or laparoscopic surgery. Their clinical findings were various, with 7 intestines obstructed with bezoars and 4 intestines perforated by spiny material. Based on the existence of the second enterocoelia, all cases were categorized into 2 types: type I is absent of second enterocoelia (18 cases, 69.23%), while type II shows second enterocoelia (8 cases, 30.77%). Twenty cases (12 were type I and 8 were type II) underwent membrane excision and careful enterodialysis to release the small intestine entirely or partially, while the other 6 cases (all were type I) did not. In addition, all patients were treated with medical treatment and healthy diet and lifestyle. Finally, most of the patients recovered smoothly.
Conclusions: AC can be categorized into two types; surgery is recommended for type II and part of type I with severe complications, but sometimes conservative therapy might be appropriate for type I. Laparoscopic surgery plays an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of AC. Furthermore, favorite health education, healthy diet and lifestyle are of significance in patients' recovery.