Dilemma of Blunt Abdominal Trauma in Patients with Crohn's Disease, Can Intestinal Perforation be Missed?

Background

Isolated intestinal injury after blunt abdominal trauma is a rare challenging clinical entity. Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) are considered more prone to spontaneous intestinal perforation rather than normal population However, spontaneous intestinal perforation remains rare. In the literature, there are few cases reports discussing intestinal perforation after blunt abdominal trauma in CD patients.

Objective

Herein, we report a young male patient with CD who had missed traumatic intestinal perforation along with literature review of similar cases.

Case Presentation

A young male patient, known to have CD, was brought to the emergency department after a road traffic accident. He had mild tenderness over his right iliac fossa with no signs of peritonitis. His chest X-rays revealed right-sided pneumothorax. His pan-computed tomography revealed thickened terminal ileum and minimal collection between the intestinal loops that were interpreted as interval regression of his Crohn's disease. On the second day, he remained hemodynamically-stable with no signs of peritonitis but his chest X-rays showed air under diaphragm. A repeated CT showed pneumoperitoneum, air foci around the terminal ileum and mild free fluid. An ileal perforation was found around 25 cm from the ileo-cecal valve. The involved ileal segment was completely resected with double-barrel ileostomy.

Conclusion

Traumatic intestinal injury in patients with Crohn's disease represent both diagnostic and management dilemma. Inaccurate interpretation of radiological signs may lead to a delayed or missed diagnosis and surgical intervention. Abdominal CT scan should be routinely repeated, within 24 hours, for such patients, regardless absence of symptoms or signs suggestive of intestinal perforation.