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CASE REPORT
Not your usual constipation: stercoral perforation
  1. Matthew Marget1,
  2. Hussam Ammar2
  1. 1Third year medical student, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
  2. 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Hussam Ammar, h_ammar68{at}yahoo.com

Summary

Stercoral perforation is a rare cause of bowel perforation. It is caused by faecal impaction, which generates pressure against the colon wall, leading to ischaemic necrosis and subsequent perforation. Since diagnosis is often delayed, stercoral perforation is usually mistreated as constipation or faecal impaction, leading to high mortality. This report presents a case of stercoral perforation in a woman aged 34 years who was promptly diagnosed and successfully treated.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2016-218283

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MM wrote the manuscript, reviewed the literature and he also participated in managing the case as the patient was assigned to him during his internal medicine rotation. HA managed the case during the admission, participated in writing the manuscript and reviewed the literature.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.