Diagnosis and Treatment of 26 Cases of Abdominal Cocoon

Abdominal cocoon: A rare case report of a small bowel obstruction

INTRODUCTION

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP), or abdominal cocoon, is a remarkably rare entity. It consists of a fibrous layer or cocoon-like sac encasing, in most cases, the small bowel. The lack of specific symptoms makes preoperative diagnosis challenging.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 50-year-old patient, with no history of abdominal surgery or medical diseases, was admitted for symptoms of small bowel obstruction. On examination, the patient was underweight with a BMI of 18 kg/m2. Vital signs were stable. His abdomen was mildly distended and soft. Abdominal CT scan showed signs in favor of a left paraduodenal hernia with incarcerated small bowel loops. Intraoperatively, the small bowels were encapsulated in a cocoon-like structure formed by thick fibrous tissue associated with multiple adhesions. Careful adhesiolysis with complete resection of the membrane was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. One year later, the patient was symptom-free.

DISCUSSION

SEP is thought to be a persistent inflammatory disorder due to a cause that remains unidentified. It is divided into two categories based on its etiology: primary and secondary. The most common mode of SEP revelation is bowel obstruction. Because there is no clear consensus on SEP management, the therapeutic approach typically follows the management strategy of bowel obstruction.

CONCLUSION

SEP is an uncommon cause of bowel obstruction. Preoperative detection can be challenging in the absence of pathognomonic signs. Treatment is based on surgery, specifically entailing complete excision of the cocoon and adhesiolysis.

Intestinal Obstruction Unraveled: A Rare Case of Primary Sclerosing Encapsulating Peritonitis

Primary sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (PSEP), also known as abdominal cocoon syndrome, is a rare condition characterized by small bowel encapsulation by a fibrous membrane or a cocoon-like sac. It is an uncommon cause of intestinal obstruction, as less than 300 cases have been reported from all over the world. We present the case of a 57-year-old male patient who presented with acute abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and constipation. A trial of conservative management failed, which warranted surgical intervention. Adhesiolysis was done, resulting in the relief of the intestinal obstruction caused by cocoon syndrome. The patient experienced excellent clinical improvement postoperatively and remained symptom-free during follow-up. Primary sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis poses a diagnostic challenge due to its rarity and nonspecific clinical presentation. A high index of suspicion, a thorough history review, a physical examination, and imaging studies are crucial for an accurate diagnosis. This case report emphasizes the importance of recognizing abdominal cocoon syndrome as a potential cause of intestinal obstruction and highlights the successful management of the condition. This is the first case of such a disease entity to be reported from Palestine.

A case report of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis followed by cesarean section: Clinical diagnosis and treatment experience

RATIONALE

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS), also known as abdominal cocoon syndrome, is an uncommon condition that typically presents with features of bowel obstruction. EPS followed by cesarean section is extremely rare. Intestinal obstruction caused by EPS lacks specificity and poses clinical difficulties for diagnosis and treatment. We present the case of a patient with recurrent intestinal obstruction followed by cesarean section, and the diagnosis of EPS was confirmed intraoperatively. The patient recovered well postoperatively, and achieved satisfactory therapeutic results. Management of this condition tests the surgeon's knowledge and experience of the disease.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 27-year-old woman with recurrent abdominal pain and distention accompanied by reduced anal discharge and defecation there months. The patient had a history of cesarean section 4 months earlier and recovered well after operation. She had no other history of abdominal surgery or diseases. On examination, a 10-cm long transverse incision was made in the lower abdomen, and marking on the intestinal movements were observed in the left mid-abdomen. A long, soft lump with good mobility was touched in the left lower abdomen. The abdominal computed tomography and small bowel barium meal examination revealed incomplete intestinal obstruction.

DIAGNOSIS

Incomplete small bowel obstruction due to abdominal adhesions after the cesarean section was initially considered.

INTERVENTIONS

After conservative treatment, the symptom of intestinal obstruction still recurred. Thus, we decided to perform a surgery of repeated decortication of fibrous peritoneal membranes.

OUTCOMES

The operation successfully released the intestinal obstruction and abdominal pain, postoperative course recovered smoothly.

LESSONS

After cesarean section could develop EPS. Intestinal obstruction caused by EPS lacks specificity and poses clinical difficulty in diagnosis and treatment. The management of this condition tests the surgeon's knowledge and experience, and surgery is an effective treatment measure.

Abdominal cocoon syndrome (idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis): An extremely rare cause of small bowel obstruction-Two case reports and a review of literature

Introduction

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP) is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in which the bowel and internal abdominal organs are wrapped with a fibrocollagenous cocoon-like encapsulating membrane [1,2]. SEP is divided into two entities: abdominal cocoons (AC), also known as idiopathic or primary sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, which is of extremely rare type, and secondary sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, which is the more common type.

Case presentation

Two male patients from India, a 26 year old and a 36 year old, presented to our hospital complaining about abdominal pain associated with nausea and vomiting without any history of previous surgical interventions; the patients' vitals were stable. Preoperative diagnosis of abdominal cocoon was established by abdominal computed tomography. It showed multiple dilated fluid-filled small bowel loops in the center of the abdominal cavity with thin soft tissue, non-enhancing capsules encasing the small bowel loops with mesenteric congestion involving small and large bowel loops. Both patients underwent complete surgical excision of the sac without intraoperative complications. Patients had a smooth postoperative hospital course and were discharged home in good conditions.

Conclusion

Patients with abdominal cocoons have a non-specific clinical presentation of intestinal obstruction. A high index of clinical suspicion in combination with the appropriate radiological investigation will increase the chance of preoperative detection of the abdominal cocoon. In patients with complete bowel obstruction, complete excision of the peritoneal sac is the standard of care.

Hernioscopy Revealing Rare Abdominal Cocoon Syndrome in an Elderly Patient: A Novel Technique for Abdominal Pathology

Patient: Male, 90-year-old

Final Diagnosis: Abdominal cocoon syndrome

Symptoms: Progressive abdominal pain, distension, and vomiting

Medication:—

Clinical Procedure: Surgical repair of bilateral hernias and hernioscopy

Specialty: Gastroenterology and Hepatology • Surgery

Abdominal Cocoon With Intestinal Perforation: A Case Report

Introduction: Abdominal cocoon is a very rare abdominal disease. Abdominal cocoon mainly leads to intestinal obstruction, and abdominal cocoon with gastrointestinal perforation is rare.

Case Presentation: We report a 63-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital with “persistent lower abdominal pain for one day”. Abdominal CT examination revealed a small amount of free gas in the abdominal cavity, ascites, and gastrointestinal perforation. An emergency operation was performed. During the operation, the end of the right lower abdominal ileum was found to be conglutinated and twisted into a mass, a local intestinal dilatation, and obstruction, local intestinal wall was black and gangrene, and fecal effusion flowed out. The adhesions were carefully separated, and the necrotic small intestine was removed. The operation process went smoothly, and the patient recovered well after the operation.

Conclusion: The cases of intestinal perforation caused by the abdominal cocoon are very rare. In clinical work, when we encounter patients with gastrointestinal perforation, we need to carefully ask the history. When the patients had no digestive system diseases in the past, we need to consider the possibility of the abdominal cocoon with perforation.

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis in an AMA-M2 positive patient: A case report

BACKGROUND

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is hard to diagnose because of nonspecific symptoms and signs. It is a general consensus that EPS is classified as primary and secondary. There have been several studies discovering some high-risk factors such as liver cirrhosis, of which AMA-M2 is a biomarker, and intra-abdominal surgery such as laparoscopic surgery. Imaging studies help to diagnose EPS and exploratory laparotomy might be an alternative if imaging fails. Nowadays, laparotomy plays a key role in treating EPS, especially when medical treatments do not work and medical therapy fails to ease patients’ symptoms.

CASE SUMMARY

A 58-year-old man complained of unexplained vomiting and abdominal distension 2 mo after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Increased alkaline phosphatase and liver enzymes were discovered. An autoimmune liver disease test showed that AMA-M2 was positive. A gastroscopy revealed bile reflux gastritis. A magnetic resonance imaging scan showed a slight dilatation of the intrahepatic bile duct. A colonoscopy showed that there was a mucosal eminence lesion in the sigmoid colon (24 cm away from the anus), with a size of 3 cm × 3 cm and erosive surface. At last, the small intestine and the stomach were found to be encased in a cocoon-like membrane during the surgery. The membrane was dissected and adhesiolysis was done to release the trapped organs. The patient recovered and was discharged 44 d after the operation, and there was no recurrence during a follow-up period of 3 mo.

CONCLUSION

AMA-M2 is a marker of primary biliary sclerosis and may help to make a preoperative diagnosis of EPS.

Imaging and treatment of idiopathic abdominal cocoon in 9 patients

The aim of the current study was to investigate the imaging features of abdominal cocoon (AC), the methods of diagnosis and treatment of AC and improve understanding of AC. To do this, the current study retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and imaging findings of nine patients with AC. The clinical manifestations included intestinal obstruction in six out of the nine cases of AC, which included two cases of bowel strangulation and five cases of soft masses in the abdomen. Imaging features of AC included the following: i) Bowel loops were usually present in a fixed cluster; ii) bowel loops were encapsulated partially or totally by a thickening fibrous membrane-like ‘cocoon’; iii) bowel wall thickened in the ‘cocoon’, and the bowel loops and sac adhered; iv) loculated ascites in the ‘cocoon’; v) abnormal clustering of the mesenteric vasculature, hypoplasia of the omentum majus was present or absent; and vi) Ileus occurred in some cases. The features of a plain abdominal X-ray, a gastrointestinal barium meal series and ultrasonography lacked specificity. The results of CT in eight out of nine cases of AC were consistent with the surgical findings. Surgery was the first choice of therapy. All cases were treated surgically, showing that the bowel loops were encapsulated partially or totally by a thickened fibrous membrane. All cases received operations including partial or total excision of the membrane and enterolysis. In conclusion, CT may be highly valuable in the preoperative diagnosis of AC.

Abdominal cocoon: an unexpected cause of ascites in a healthy patient

Abdominal cocoon is the idiopathic fibrotic encasement of abdominal organs. It classically presents as small bowel obstruction in young women. In this case report, we present a rare example of a patient presenting solely with massive ascites of presumed gynecologic origin, who upon surgical exploration was found to have abdominal cocoon. We discuss the patient’s unique disease presentation, unrevealing work-up and the treatment strategy pursued, and provide a review of the literature.

Abdominal cocoon with early postoperative small bowel obstruction: A case report and review of literature in China

RATIONALE

Abdominal cocoon is a condition in which intestinal obstruction results from the encasement of part or whole of the small bowel by a thick fibrous membrane, giving the appearance of a cocoon. The preoperative diagnosis is difficult to be made and the treatment is still controversial.

PATIENT CONCERNS

Here we describe the case of a 62-year-old male presented with a 24-h history of continual colicky abdominal pain, which was accompanied with nausea and vomiting.

DIAGNOSIS

Accurate diagnosis of abdominal cocoon was made intraoperatively.

INTERVENTIONS

Membrane excision and adhesiolysis were performed and the patient experienced early postoperative small bowel obstruction. Nasointestinal obstruction tube was then installed and bowel function was gradually recovered by the 20th postoperative day.

OUTCOMES

The patient recovered well and was discharged from the hospital on the 30th postoperative day LESSONS:: Abdominal cocoon can occur at any age. The possibility of abdominal cocoon should also be considered in infertile patients. Imaging studies may be helpful to make the correct diagnosis, and surgery should be performed for patients with recurrent acute or chronic intestinal obstruction.