Sodade Oluwafolaranmi E, Austin Cindy L, Draper Brian B
Mercy Research-Trauma Research, Springfield, MO, USA.
Mercy-General & Trauma Surgery, Springfield, MO, USA.
J Surg Case Rep. 2023 Jun 17;2023(6):rjad330. doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjad330. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Idiopathic pneumoperitoneum (IP) cases are rare and presents with varying symptoms, which makes propositions of standard treatments, clinically impracticable. There are limited IP therapies in the literature, necessitating a need, to continually highlight unique cases for the purpose of clinical education and training. This case describes an IP and management of a 34-year-old male who recently underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patient presented to the emergency room with recurrent gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. Despite two negative exploratory laparotomies without confirmatory evidence of GI perforations, the GI symptoms persisted, making it an unusual case. The surgeons elected to a multispecialty approach, detailing patient-specific symptoms, and corresponding treatments of the case. Based on the successful outcome of this patient, detailed knowledge of medical history, repeated physical assessments and patient-specific and comprehensive approach was shown to reduce unnecessary exploratory laparotomy, improved clinical outcomes and decrease in complications.