Abstract
Pneumoperitoneum outside the setting of recent surgical intervention usually indicates perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. Following radiologic evidence of pneumoperitoneum, surgical exploration of the abdomen may be indicated depending on the nature of the patient’s presentation. We present the radiological findings of a healthy young woman who presented with acute onset of abdominal pain and was found to have extensive pneumoperitoneum. No visceral disruption was evident by multidetector CT or by single-contrast barium fluoroscopic evaluation of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Knowledge of benign causes of pneumoperitoneum by the radiologist may avert an unnecessary laparotomy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Winek TG, Mosely HS, Grout G, Luallin D (1988) Pneumoperitoneum and its association with ruptured abdominal viscus. Arch Surg 123:709–712
McGlone FB, Vivion CG Jr, Meir L (1966) Spontaneous pneumoperitoneum. Gastroenterology 51:393–398
Mularski RA, Sippel JM, Osborne ML (2000) Pneumoperitoneum: a review of nonsurgical causes. Crit Care Med 28:2638–2644
van Gelder HM, Allen KB, Renz B, Sherman R (1991) Spontaneous pneumoperitoneum. A surgical dilemma. Am Surg 57:151–156
Daly BD, Guthrie JA, Couse NF (1991) Pneumoperitoneum without peritonitis. Postgrad Med J 67:999–1003
Lal P, Mohan P, Sharma R, Sehgal A, Aggarwal A (2001) Postcoital vaginal laceration in a patient presenting with signs of small bowel perforation: report of a case. Surg Today 31:466–467
Inston N, Lake S (2000) Pneumoperitoneum following Jacuzzi usage. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 82:350–351
Hoover EL, Cole GD, Mitchell LS, Adams CZ Jr, Hassett J (1992) Avoiding laparotomy in nonsurgical pneumoperitoneum. Am J Surg 164:99–103
Gensburg RS, Wojcik WG, Mehta SD (1988) Vaginally induced pneumoperitoneum during pregnancy. AJR Am J Roentgenol 150:595–596
Felson B, Wiot JF (1973) Another look at pneumoperitoneum. Semin Roentgenol 8:437–443
Fataar S, Morton P, Schulman A (1981) Recurrent non-surgical pneumoperitoneum due to spontaneous pneumothorax. Br J Radiol 54:1100–1102.
Stapakis JC, Thickman, D (1992) Diagnosis of pneumoperitoneum: abdominal CT versus upright chest film. J Comput Assist Tomogr 16:713–716
Baker SR, Cho KC (1999) Plain film radiology of the peritoneal and retroperitoneal spaces. In: Baker SR , Cho KC (ed) Abdominal plain film with correlative imaging. Appleton and Lange, Norwalk, pp 91–95
Baker SR, Hirschorn D, Jacobs AF (1999) The recognition of miniscule intraabdominal gas bubbles: comparison of supine radiographs, CT scouts and CT sections. Exhibited at Radiological Society of North America, 85th Annual Meeting
Nghiem HV, Jeffrey RB, Mindelzun RE (1995) CT of blunt trauma to the bowel and mesentery. Semin Ultrasound CT MR 16:82–90
Baker SR (1999) Plain films and cross-sectional imaging for acute abdominal pain: unresolved issues. Semin Ultrasound CT MR 20:142–147
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Williams, T.C., Kanne, J.P. & Lalani, T.A. Jacuzzi jet-induced pneumoperitoneum. Emergency Radiology 10, 259–261 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-004-0330-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-004-0330-y