Panperitonitis due to Perforation of Meckel Diverticulum in Infant Period

Abstract

The perforation and subsequent panperitonitis as one of the complications of a Meckel diverticulum is a rare complication, especially in infants. Complication of Meckel diverticulum, preoperative and operative patient's mean age is about 5 years old. A 13-month-old male infant presented at our emergency room with currant jelly stool of about 24 hours duration. Intussusception or bacterial enteritis was initially suspected. Gastrointestinal ultrasonography showed no evidence of intussusception or appendicitis. On the 3rd hospital day, he suddenly showed high fever and irritability. Abdominal CT suggested intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal abscess with air collection due to possible bowel perforation. The final diagnosis of perforation of Meckel diverticulum was made by laparoscopy and biopsy. We report a very rare case with perforation of Meckel diverticulum in infant period.

A Febrile Infant With Abdominal Erythema and Irritability

“… 2 Ruptured Meckel’s diverticulum is itself an uncommon complication. 1 , 4 Although there are case reports and series occurring in the neonatal period 4 and in children older than 12 months, 2 , 13 the incidence occurring in nonnewborn infancy has only been reported twice since 1975. 1 , 14 Presenting symptoms are variable, but common complications include bloody stool, bowel obstruction, sepsis, peritonitis, and much less commonly, as reported in our case, omphalitis.…”