Inflamed Meckel’s diverticulum secondary to a giant faecalith: a rare presentation of acute abdominal pain in an adult

Abstract

Meckel’s diverticulae can present with symptoms and signs mimicking acute appendicitis. We present the case of a healthy 35-year old male who was suspected of having acute appendicitis but at operation was found to have an inflamed Meckel’s diverticulum containing a giant faecalith, which had caused ischaemic necrosis due to a pressure effect. Post-operatively the patient admitted to a year of recurrent bouts of severe colicky abdominal pain, when running.

Keywords

• diverticulum
• meckel
• appendicitis
• faecolith