NYMC Faculty Publications

DOI

10.1093/jscr/rjx144

Journal Title

Journal of Surgical Case Reports

First Page

rjx144

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2017

Department

Surgery

Abstract

Congenital diaphragmatic hernias constitute an infrequent but potentially serious presentation of bowel obstruction in the adult patient. Herein, we present a rare case of an adult patient with strangulation of colon within a Morgagni's hernia where timely recognition and intervention were life-saving. An 18-year-old female presented with an acute abdomen, respiratory failure, and shock secondary to a strangulated, previously undiagnosed Morgagni hernia requiring emergency laparotomy, reduction of hernia contents and resection of non-viable colon. The patient underwent repair of the hernia with restoration of bowel continuity and reconstruction of her abdominal wall in sequential fashion. Although congenital diaphragmatic hernias have been previously described in the adult population, there are few if any reports of such pathology presenting in such an acute, life-threatening fashion. This case highlights the importance of a high index of suspicion, early recognition, and timely surgical intervention for this rare, potentially fatal condition.

Publisher's Statement

Originally published in Journal of Surgical Case Reports, 2017, 7, 1–3. The original material can be found here.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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