An unusual case of diastatic perforation of the transverse colon: Case report and literature review

Abstract

Diastatic perforation corresponds to a bursting of the cecal wall caused by excessive distension resulting from a remote obstruction of the low large bowel. This perforation could be explained by Laplace's physical law, and by the particular vascular anatomy of the cecal wall. We report the case of a 75-year-old man admitted for peritonitis with an abdominal CT scan highly suggestive of a diastatic perforation of the cecum complicating colonic distension upstream of a stenosing tumor of the rectosigmoid junction. To our surprise, surgical exploration revealed the defect to be in the transverse colon and not in the cecum. Diastatic perforation of the transverse colon is exceptional, and would require other pathophysiological explanations than those for classical cecal perforation.

Keywords

• Diastatic perforation
• Transverse colon
• Peritonitis
• CT
• Case report