Internal hernia as one of the causes of abdominal pain

Abstract

Abdominal pain is often observed in clinical practice, causing diagnostic difficulties for doctors of different specialties. Internal hernias are a surgical pathology and may be the cause for the development of acute small bowel obstruction and the occurrence of pain. A modern classification of internal hernias is presented and their topographic-anatomical description is given. The analysis of the results of computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdominal cavity in 20 patients with an unidentified cause of abdominal pain was performed. According to the CT data, three patients had internal hernias that caused the development of pain syndrome. A pathological displacement of intestinal loops with partial disruption of intestinal permeability and curvature of the mesentery without critical disturbance of blood supply was demonstrated in 4 patients with abdominal pain. The findings suggest that CT may be the method of choice when examining patients with an unknown cause of abdominal pain syndrome.