Spontaneous Common Bile Duct Perforation in Full Term Pregnancy: A Rare Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous biliary system perforation is a rare presentation in clinical practice. It is even rare in adult population than infants. The condition is rarely suspected and diagnosed preoperatively because of small number of cases, vague sign and symptoms and ambiguous presentation.Case presentation: we are presenting an interesting case of spontaneous perforation of common bile duct in a 16 years old lady presented a week after her first delivery to the emergency department with complain of diffuse abdominal pain, abdominal distention, fever, vomiting and constipation. She was having generalize peritonitis but the cause of peritonitis was unknown despite of all available investigations performed. She underwent exploratory laparotomy and a perforation in the supra duodenal region of common bile duct was found intraoperatively. Common bile duct repair over T-tube and cholecystectomy performed and patient recovered.Conclusion: Spontaneous biliary perforation is a rare cause of acute abdomen in adults and extremely rare in pregnancy and its belated diagnoses and management is leading to high morbidity and mortality. All physicians especially surgeons should be aware of its possibility and consider it a cause of peritonitis on differential diagnosis especially when there is no apparent etiology available for the presentation.