Acute intrathoracic gastric volvulus with retrograde gastric intussusception: A case report of a rare surgical emergency with review of the literature

INTRODUCTION: The gastric volvulus is a rare condition in which the stomach, or part of it, rotates on its axis, for over 180°, constituting a surgical emergency. Even more rare is gastro-gastric intussusception. A delay in their diagnosis and treatment can have fatal consequences PRESENTATION OF CASE: An 82-year-old woman was admitted to the Surgery Unit with a two-day history of abdominal pain associated at first with coffee vomiting and, subsequently, with unproductive retching and oligoanuria. Physical examination showed severe dehydration, fever, at the abdominal level, palpation caused a marked tenderness of all quadrants, with signs of peritonism. Laboratory test showed showed neutrophilic hyperleukocytosis and high C reactive protein level. Abdominal computed tomography revealed an acute intrathoracic gastric volvulus and a gastrogastric intussuception. The patient was submitted to exploratory laparotomy, subtotal gastrectomy with Roux en Y anastomosis and simple plastic of the esophageal hiatus. At the end of the surgery, however, the patient died of your septic shock. DISCUSSION: The traditional treatment for a patient with acute gastric volvulus is an immediate surgical intervention to derotate the stomach and prevent vascular insufficiency. In the presence of necrosis or gastric perforation, resection should be performed. The few cases of gastrogastric intussusception described in the literature have been treated with sub-total gastrectomy and gastro-jejunal anastomosis. Any delay in diagnosis and treatment can prove fatal. CONCLUSION: Intrathoracic Gastric Volvulus and, even more, retrograde gastrointestinal intussusception are very rare pathologies, difficult to diagnose.