Incarcerated internal hernia of the broad ligament

Abstract

Internal hernia-related small-bowel loop obstruction is very rare, and hernia through a defect of the broad ligament is especially rare. Here, we report a case of a 45-year-old woman with small-bowel obstruction secondary to internal hernia through a defect in the broad ligament and diagnosed through multiple detector computed tomography (MDCT) and confirmed at surgery. The CT findings that enabled the diagnosis of this extremely rare cause of small-bowel obstruction are presented here. A 15-cm-long segment of the incarcerated ileum was found and resected at surgery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of internal hernia through a defect of the broad ligament with dilated small-bowel loops that was preoperatively diagnosed through MDCT in Taiwan. This case report describes a differential diagnosis of unusual small-bowel obstruction, which should be considered when female patients present with acute abdominal pain.