Article Text
PDF
Summary
A Littre’s hernia is an unusual phenomenon where a Meckel’s diverticulum protrudes through a potential abdominal opening. We wish to present a unique case of a 79-year-old man with respiratory distress following a fall from standing, initially managed as a haemothorax. After a chest drain was placed, bowel contents were drained from the pleural cavity and he was taken to theatre. He had a history of minimally invasive oesophagectomy for cancer and had subsequently developed a diaphragmatic hernia. A blind ending diverticulum with a perforation at its tip was found in the left oblique lung fissure that was subsequently confirmed histologically as a perforated Meckel’s diverticulum. The patient had a prolonged stay on the intensive care unit with a left-sided empyema that was managed radiologically prior to discharge. Unfortunately 4 months postoperatively, he passed away from hospital-acquired pneumonia on a rehabilitation ward.
- oesophagus
- gastrointestinal surgery
- general surgery
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors CW was responsible for assisting in primary surgery and caring for patient postoperatively; consented patient for case report, amended case presentation, wrote discussion, prepared final figures and undertook recommended revisions of the paper. KE was involved in the caring of patient postoperatively; gathered and summarised information from patient notes and wrote first draft of case presentation. KH performed primary surgery and was responsible for care postoperatively and reviewed final drafts of case report and recommended revisions.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.