A Tale of Two Meckel’s: small bowel obstruction secondary to Meckel’s Diverticulum

Abstract

We present two rare cases of small bowel obstruction (SBO) secondary to Meckel’s diverticulum (MD) where the mechanism of obstruction was not readily apparent. Both were cases of virgin abdomen with pre-operative CT scans demonstrating SBO without a clear underlying cause or mass. Diagnostic laparoscopy was performed, which established the underlying cause to be MD, and laparoscopic-assisted resection was undertaken to resect small bowel and perform a side-to-side stapled anastomosis. We subsequently describe the different mechanisms by which MD can cause obstruction as described in the literature.

Meckel's diverticulum causing acute intestinal obstruction: A case report and comprehensive review of the literature

“…The literature search in our search was conducted using the terms(s): “small bowel obstruction” AND “meckel's diverticulum” OR “diverticulitis” OR “volvulus” OR “intussusception”. The symptomatology, imaging findings, treatment employed, and the follow-up are delineated by Table 1 below [ [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] ].…”