Perforated Meckel’s diverticulitis secondary to a corn kernel obstruction of lumen in an elderly patient

Abstract

Abstract Meckel’s diverticulum (MD) is the most common congenital malformation of the gastrointestinal tract. The most frequent complications are bleeding, intestinal obstruction, intussusception and neoplasm. Perforation because of diverticulitis is very rare and usually associated to foreign bodies. We report a case of an elderly man who presented with right iliac fossa pain, raised inflammatory markers and a computer tomography (CT) scan suggestive of Meckel’s diverticulitis. He underwent a laparoscopic converted to open small bowel resection and primary anastomosis for perforated MD, which revealed a corn kernel at its base in the absence of ectopic gastric or pancreatic tissue. Symptomatic and perforated MD secondary to a phytobezoar is extremely rare in elderly patients, hence the importance of clinical suspicion in patients with abdominal pain, independent from their age, to avoid delay in diagnosis, which can lead to increased morbidity and mortality in this demographic.