Idiopathic abdominal cocoon: report of a case

Abdominal cocoon: an unusual cause of subacute intestinal obstruction

We report an unusual cause of subacute intestinal obstruction in a young adolescent girl, which is a nontubercular abdominal cocoon. Barium meal follow-through revealed "cauliflower"-like appearance of small bowel. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy showing thick fibrous-like coverings which were encasing the small bowel loops to form an abdominal cocoon. Fibrocollagenous membrane was excised after adhesiolysis. Histopathological examination of membrane revealed fibrocollagenous membrane with hyaline deposition of nontubercular origin.

Idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis: Abdominal cocoon

Abdominal cocoon, the idiopathic form of sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, is a rare condition of unknown etiology that results in an intestinal obstruction due to total or partial encapsulation of the small bowel by a fibrocollagenous membrane. Preoperative diagnosis requires a high index of clinical suspicion. The early clinical features are nonspecific, are often not recognized and it is difficult to make a definite pre-operative diagnosis. Clinical suspicion may be generated by the recurrent episodes of small intestinal obstruction combined with relevant imaging findings and lack of other plausible etiologies. The radiological diagnosis of abdominal cocoon may now be confidently made on computed tomography scan. Surgery is important in the management of this disease. Careful dissection and excision of the thick sac with the release of the small intestine leads to complete recovery in the vast majority of cases.