POSTOPERATIVE TENSION PNEUMOPERITONEUM

Fatal tension pneumoperitoneum due to aerophagy

A case of fetal tension pneumoperitoneum following gastric perforation due to aerophagy is described. Comment is made on the probably pathogenesis.

Tension pneumoperitoneum: a report of 4 cases

Four cases of tension pneumoperitoneum are described. In 3 patients this condition followed a perforation of a grossly distended caecum. In 2 of these patients there was an associated malignant neoplasm of the pelvic colon with obstruction. The third patient had a pseudo-obstruction of the transverse colon. The fourth patient had a tension penumoperitoneum with associated surgical emphysema in the neck and subcutaneous tissues of the abdomen and chest walls, following perforation of a duodenal ulcer. The aetiology, presentation and management, together with the mechanism of tension pneumoperitoneum, are discussed.

Tension pneumoperitoneum

Two cases of tension pneumoperitoneum seen in 2 female adults in the University College Hospital, Ibadan, are described. One was a complication of abdominal and pelvic tuberculosis with tuberculous ulcers of the colon detected at autopsy. The other developed tension pneumoperitoneum following puerperal sepsis. In neither was a site of perforation detected nor were gas-forming organisms grown on culture. The literature on the subject is reviewed.