Postcoital pneumoperitoneum after hysterectomy

Abstract

Usually, pneumoperitoneum is a serious condition suggesting a perforation of the abdominal viscus. Nonsurgical pneumoperitoneum accounts for approximately 10% of all cases. The authors present a case of postcoital pneumoperitoneum after a hysterectomy. A 46-year-old woman presented to the emergency department 4 months after an abdominal hysterectomy with complaints of abdominal discomfort and radiographic evidence of free air under the diaphragm. The clinical finding did not support the radiographic evidence. An unclear peptic ulcer history led us at first to mistakenly diagnose a covered perforation of gastroduodenal ulcer. Diagnostic perplexity forced us to perform a laparoscopy after 30 h. The abdominal cavity was surprisingly normal, and no perforation was found. Nonsurgical postcoital pneumoperitoneum is rare. We solved such a case for the first time. By means of laparoscopy, we could exclude perforation of the viscus and peritonitis, and the operation was carried out in a minimally invasive way.

Postcoital vaginoperitoneal fistula after hysterectomy for gynecological malignancy

“…Nonsurgical pneumoperitoneum accounts for approximately 10% of all the cases. [1] Nonsurgical causes of pneumoperitoneum may be due to positive pressure ventilation, pneumatosis cystoids intestinalis, or entry through female genital tract. Injury, foreign body, vigorous vaginal douching, and sexual trauma are the other rare causes of letting air in through the female genitalia.…”