Chronic tubo-ovarian abscess complicated by hepatic portal venous gas

Hepatic portal venous gas after ingesting glyphosate: A case report and literature review

Background

Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide. Clinical presentations of glyphosate intoxication show variation, but hepatic portal venous gas(HPVG) caused by glyphosate poisoning is rarely reported. Herein, we report a rare case of ominous HPVG after ingesting glyphosate. HPVG, which used to be an ominous abdominal radiologic sign, is associated with numerous underlying abdominal pathologies, ranging from benign conditions that require no invasive treatment to potentially lethal diseases that necessitate prompt surgical intervention.

Case summary

A young woman who ingested 100 mL glyphosate 6-h prior was admitted to the emergency intensive care unit. Before admission to our hospital, the patient was administered gastric lavage treatment with 10000 mL of normal saline in the local hospital. After 14 h, her laboratory examinations showed systemic inflammatory response syndrome and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, while the condition deteriorated. Computed tomography of the abdomen showed multilinear air densities in the portal vein, hepatic branches, and mesenteric vessels, intestinal obstruction, and intestinal necrosis. Septic shock and a severe abdominal infection were diagnosed. The patient was treated conservatively as they could not tolerate surgery and, after 20 h died of septic shock.

Conclusion

We reviewed 289 cases of "hepatic portal venous gas" in PUBMED and analyzed the etiology and treatment of HPVG accompanied by the underlying pathology. We concluded that HPVG is a radiological sign associated with various diseases, and the prognosis mainly depends on the underlying cause and clinical condition. As glyphosate may erode the digestive tract, attention should be paid to the volume, pressure, and speed of gastric lavage in treating glyphosate poisoning to avoid fatal complications such as HPVG. Abdominal symptoms need to be closely observed, and changes in the early onset of the condition in clinical practice need to be responded to promptly.

Intestinal necrosis cannot be neglected in a patient with hepatic portal vein gas combined with appendicitis: a rare case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

Hepatic portal vein gas (HPVG) is a rare acute abdomen, which is not an independent disease. Meanwhile, HPVG combined with appendicitis has been rarely reported. We found only a similar report by looking for literature, but no intestinal necrosis occurred. We report a patient with HPVG, appendicitis and intestinal necrosis was reported in the current study. The patient was given frequent monitoring and had been conducted operation in time.

CASE PRESENTATION

An 86-year-old female with appendicitis complicated by HPVG was reported in the present study. Abdominal examination revealed rebound tenderness at the McBurney's point. Moreover, abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed gas in portal and mesenteric veins in addition to appendicitis. An emergency operation was planned on the appendix. However, the patient refused surgical treatment. Therefore, conservative treatment of antibiotics and frequent imaging observation was conducted for this patient. Although imaging results suggested disappeared gas in intra- and extra-hepatic portal veins, the small intestine was dilated, after conservative treatment of antibiotics. In addition, signs of diffused peritonitis could also be observed and an exploratory laparotomy was performed. Intra-operative findings had confirmed suppurated appendix, mesenteric ischemia and small intestinal necrosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Frequent monitoring benefits us in observing the progress of intestinal diseases. When there exist other possible causes of HPVG such as infection, it is not easy for us to ignore the possibility of intestinal necrosis.

Conservative treatment of hepatic portal venous gas consecutive to a complicated diverticulitis: A case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION AND PRESENTATION OF CASE

Eight days after being diagnosed with multiple small strokes a 71year old male patient is readmitted with suspicion of a petit mal seizure also complained of diarrhoea and abdominal pain. The patient was stable, not febrile and neurologically intact with a slight tenderness in the left lower quadrant. An ultrasound revealed presence of air in the hepatic portal venous system and a suspicion for sigmoid diverticulitis. A CT-scan confirmed both diagnoses. We proceeded with a conservative regimen under close observation. The clinical course and laboratory results were unremarkable.

DISCUSSION

The review of the literature (PubMed database) triggered 685 items with only one clinical trial establishing a scoring system to detect adult individuals, which need operation.

CONCLUSION

A pneumoportogram (hepatic portal venous gas, HPVG) is a very rare and usually associated with bowel ischemia and from poor prognosis. The last decades saw the emergence of numerous other aetiologies (also benign) with a shift of paradigm from systematic emergency laparotomies to individual patient selection.