A Rare Cause of Abdominal Pain in Adults: Meckel's Diverticulitis

Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2018 Nov 28;12(3):709-714. doi: 10.1159/000494752. eCollection 2018 Sep-Dec.

Abstract

A 42-year-old man presented to the emergency room with complaints of periumbilical abdominal pain. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed mucosal thickening in the small bowel of the right abdomen. There was a fairly large small bowel diverticulum associated with this segment. Findings were suggestive of small bowel diverticulitis or possibly focal enteritis. A Meckel's diverticulum scan was diagnostic of Meckel's diverticulum. The patient was then immediately taken to the operating room for emergency laparotomy and was intra-operatively found to have a thickened Meckel's diverticulitis with adjacent small bowel obstruction. Meckel's diverticulectomy was performed in continuity with the adjacent inflamed small bowel. The patient had a stable postoperative course without any complications and was discharged within 10 days. At the 3-month follow-up, the patient was well and remained asymptomatic.

Keywords: Abdominal pain; Meckel's diverticulitis; Meckel's diverticulum; Meckel's scan.

Publication types

  • Case Reports