EP.TU.439Falciform ligament torsion – a rare cause of the acute abdomen

Abstract

The falciform ligament attaches the liver to the anterior abdominal wall and diaphragm. Acute falciform ligament related pathology is rare. In this case report we present a case of acute fat necrosis related to the falciform ligament. A 53 year old women presented with acute upper abdominal pain localised to the right hypochondrium. He was tender to palpation in the same region with a positive Murphy’s sign. A provisional diagnosis of acute cholecystitis was made. Blood work revealed raised inflammatory markers but normal liver function tests. Abdominal ultrasound revealed no gallbladder pathology nor gallstones. Thus computed tomogram (CT) scan of the abdomen was performed, showing hyper-attenuation rim signal present within the inferior aspect of the falciform ligament consistent with local vascular occlusion. The patient was managed with intravenous antibiotics with liberal analgesia and went on to make a successful recovery. Only 10 cases have been reported in the literature related to falciform ligament necrosis. We present this unusual pathology encountered on our acute surgical take, to alert surgeons to this rare diagnosis and provide a review of the literature and provide detail of how such a pathology manifests on CT scan.