An unusual small bowel obstruction (abdominal cocoon): a case report

Case Report: Abdominal Cocoon With Jejuno-Ileo-Colonic Fistula

Introduction

Abdominal cocoon is a unique peritoneal disease that is frequently misdiagnosed. The occurrence of the abdominal cocoon with a jejuno-ileo-colonic fistula has not been previously reported.

Case Presentation

We admitted a 41-year-old female patient with an abdominal cocoon and a jejuno-ileo-colonic fistula. She was admitted to our hospital for the following reasons: “the menstrual cycle is prolonged for half a year, and fatigue, palpitations, and shortness of breath for 2 months”. On the morning of the 4th day of admission, the patient experienced sudden, severe, and intolerable abdominal pain after defecating. An emergency abdominal CT examination revealed intestinal obstruction. Surgery was performed, and the small intestine and colon were observed to be conglutinated and twisted into a mass surrounded by a fibrous membrane, and an enteroenteric fistula was observed between the jejunum, ileum, and sigmoid colon. We successfully relieved the intestinal obstruction and performed adhesiolysis. The patient was discharged from our hospital on the 6th postoperative day, then she recovered and was discharged from Feicheng People's Hospital after another 11 days of conservative treatment, and she recovered well-during the 2-month follow-up period.

Conclusion

Abdominal cocoon coexisting with a jejuno-ileo-colonic fistula is very rare. During the process of abdominal cocoon treatment, the patient's medical history should be understood in detail before the operation, and the abdominal organs should be carefully evaluated during the operation to avoid missed diagnoses.

Surgical timing for primary encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND

Primary encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare but devastating disease that causes fibrocollagenous cocoon-like encapsulation of the bowel, resulting in bowel obstruction. The pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment strategies of EPS remain unclear so far. Since most patients are diagnosed during exploratory laparotomy, for the non-surgically diagnosed patients with primary EPS, the surgical timing is also uncertain.

CASE SUMMARY

A 44-year-old female patient was referred to our center on September 6, 2021, with complaints of abdominal distention and bilious vomiting for 2 d. Physical examination revealed that the vital signs were stable, and the abdomen was slightly distended. Computerized tomography scan showed a conglomerate of multiple intestinal loops encapsulated in a thick sac-like membrane, which was surrounded by abdominal ascites. The patient was diagnosed with idiopathic EPS. Recovery was observed after abdominal paracentesis, and the patient was discharged on September 13 after the resumption of a normal diet. This case raised a question: When should an exploratory laparotomy be performed on patients who are non-surgically diagnosed with EPS. As a result, we conducted a review of the literature on the clinical manifestations, intraoperative findings, surgical methods, and therapeutic effects of EPS.

CONCLUSION

Recurrent intestinal obstructions and abdominal mass combined with the imaging of encapsulated bowel are helpful in diagnosing idiopathic EPS. Small intestinal resection should be avoided.

Abdominal Cocoon Syndrome: A Laparoscopic Approach

Sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis, or abdominal cocoon syndrome (ACS), is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction in which the small bowel is encapsulated by a fibro-collagenous membrane. We present the case of a 29-year-old male who presented to us with acute intestinal obstruction. The imaging performed suggested the presence of ACS. The patient underwent laparoscopic adhesiolysis and the small bowel was released. In cases of recurrent small bowel obstruction, a high index of suspicion is required for the diagnosis of ACS. Computed tomography can be a useful imaging modality, and surgery remains the mainstay of treatment.

Diagnosis and Treatment of 26 Cases of Abdominal Cocoon

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Abdominal cocoon (AC) is a rare abdominal disease with nonspecific clinical features, and it is difficult to be diagnosed before operation and hard to be treated in clinical practice. The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnosis and treatment of AC.

METHODS

The clinical manifestations, findings during surgery, treatments, and follow-up results of 26 cases of AC were retrospectively studied from January 2001 to January 2015.

RESULTS

All of 26 cases were diagnosed as AC definitely by laparotomy or laparoscopic surgery. Their clinical findings were various, with 7 intestines obstructed with bezoars and 4 intestines perforated by spiny material. Based on the existence of the second enterocoelia, all cases were categorized into 2 types: type I is absent of second enterocoelia (18 cases, 69.23%), while type II shows second enterocoelia (8 cases, 30.77%). Twenty cases (12 were type I and 8 were type II) underwent membrane excision and careful enterodialysis to release the small intestine entirely or partially, while the other 6 cases (all were type I) did not. In addition, all patients were treated with medical treatment and healthy diet and lifestyle. Finally, most of the patients recovered smoothly.

CONCLUSIONS

AC can be categorized into two types; surgery is recommended for type II and part of type I with severe complications, but sometimes conservative therapy might be appropriate for type I. Laparoscopic surgery plays an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of AC. Furthermore, favorite health education, healthy diet and lifestyle are of significance in patients' recovery.

Accurate definition and management of idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis

AIM

To review the literature on idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP), also known as abdominal cocoon syndrome.

METHODS

The PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Google databases were searched using specific key words to identify articles related to idiopathic SEP. These key words were "sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis," "idiopathic sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis," "abdominal cocoon," and "abdominal cocoon syndrome." The search included letters to the editor, case reports, review articles, original articles, and meeting presentations published in the English-language literature from January 2000 to May 2014. Articles or abstracts containing adequate information about age, sex, symptom duration, initial diagnosis, radiological tools, and surgical approaches were included in the study. Papers with missing or inadequate data were excluded.

RESULTS

The literature search yielded 73 articles on idiopathic (primary) SEP published in 23 countries. The four countries that published the greatest number of articles were India (n = 21), Turkey (n = 14), China (n = 8) and Nigeria (n = 3). The four countries that reported the greatest number of cases were China (n = 104; 53.88%), India (n = 35; 18.13%), Turkey (n = 17; 8.80%) and Nigeria (n = 5; 2.59%). The present study included 193 patients. Data on age could be obtained for 184 patients (range: 7-87 years; mean ± SD, 34.7 ± 19.2 years), but were unavailable for nine patients. Of the 184 patients, 122 were male and 62 were female; sex data could not be accessed in the remaining nine patients. Of the 149 patients whose preoperative diagnosis information could be obtained, 65 (43.6%) underwent operations for abdominal cocoon, while the majority of the remaining patients underwent operations for a presumed diagnosis of intestinal obstruction and/or abdominal mass. Management information could be retrieved for 115 patients. Of these, 68 underwent excision + adhesiolysis (one laparoscopic); 24 underwent prophylactic appendectomy in addition to excision + adhesiolysis. Twenty patients underwent various resection and repair techniques along with excision + adhesiolysis. The remaining three patients were managed with antituberculosis therapy (n = 2) and immunosuppressive therapy (n = 1).

CONCLUSION

Idiopathic SEP is a rare disorder characterized by frequently recurring bouts of intestinal obstruction. Surgical therapy is the gold standard management strategy.