Spontaneous perforation of Meckel’s diverticulum in an adult female with literature review

BACKGROUND: Perforated Meckel’s diverticulum is a rare complication of an already rare disease process, which often mimics a perforated appendix on presentation and diagnosis. The majority of case reports for perforation involve either a foreign body or fecalith. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 54-year-old female who initially presented at another institution with signs and symptoms of acute appendicitis and underwent appendectomy with a drain left in place. Subsequently, she underwent exploratory laparotomy at our institution for a perceived stump leak or incidental perforation and was found to have a perforated Meckel’s, with no evidence of foreign body or fecalith. CONCLUSION: The literature of Meckel’s diverticulum is reviewed, and we discuss the difficulty in diagnosis as well as the quandary of incidental resection.