Diagnosis and treatment of caecal volvulus

Consorti, E T
Liu, T H

University of California San Francisco- East Bay Surgery Program, and University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, Oakland and San Francisco, California USA

Correspondence to: Dr T H Liu UCSF-East Bay. 1411 East 31st Street, Oakland, CA 94602-1018, USA; [email protected]

Received 22 March 2005

Accepted 23 April 2005

Funding: none.

Conflicts of interest: none.

Postgraduate Medical Journal 81(962):p 772-776, December 2005.

Caecal volvulus is an infrequently encountered clinical condition and an uncommon cause of intestinal obstruction. Patients with this condition may present with highly variable clinical presentations ranging from intermittent, self limiting abdominal pain to acute abdominal pain associated with intestinal strangulation and sepsis. Lack of familiarity with this condition is a factor contributing to diagnostic and treatment delays. The objective of this review is to promote clinicians’ awareness of this disease through patient case illustration, discussion of disease pathogenesis, clinical features, and management strategies.