Diagnosis and Treatment of Small Bowel Strangulation Due To Congenital Band: Three Cases of Congenital Band in Adults Lacking a History of Trauma or Surgery

Case series Patients: Male, 33 • Male, 18 • Male, 19 Final Diagnosis: Congenital band causing a small bowel obstruction Symptoms: Progressive abdominal pain that eventually becomes excessive Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Laparoscopic band removal Specialty: Surgery OBJECTIVE: Rare disease BACKGROUND: Among the causes of constipation are bands and adhesions that lead to obstructions at different points in the intestinal tract. These can occur as a consequence of healing following surgery or trauma. However, an entity known as congenital band exists where a band is present from birth. Here we report three such cases of adults with symptoms of intestinal obstruction, in whom a congenital band was discovered through exploratory laparoscopy. CASE REPORTS: All three of these patients presented lacking a history of any abdominal trauma or previous abdominal surgeries, a fact that is often used to exclude an adhesion as a differential. All three recovered quickly and had relief of their symptoms following surgical intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Bands and adhesions are common surgical causes of small bowel obstruction, leading to symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, and obstipation. These bands almost always result from a prior abdominal surgery or from a recent abdominal trauma. The three cases presented here show a far more unusual picture of a band, one that is congenitally present, as there was an absence of such a history. This is significant because clinical suspicion of a band is often very low due to a lack of distinguishing clinical and diagnostic features, and when the past history is negative.