Sevinc MM, Kinaci E, Bayrak S, Yardimci AH, Cakar E, Bektaş H. Extraordinary cause of acute gastric dilatation and hepatic portal venous gas: Chronic use of synthetic cannabinoid. World J Gastroenterol 2015; 21(37): 10704-10708 [PMID: 26457032 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i37.10704]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Erdem Kinaci, MD, Org. Nafiz Gurman Cad. Istanbul Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Genel Cerrahi Klinigi, Fatih, Istanbul 34098, Turkey. erdemkinaci@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 7, 2015; 21(37): 10704-10708 Published online Oct 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i37.10704
Extraordinary cause of acute gastric dilatation and hepatic portal venous gas: Chronic use of synthetic cannabinoid
Mert Mahsuni Sevinc, Erdem Kinaci, Savas Bayrak, Aytul Hande Yardimci, Ekrem Cakar, Hasan Bektaş
Mert Mahsuni Sevinc, Erdem Kinaci, Savas Bayrak, Ekrem Cakar, Hasan Bektaş, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul 34098, Turkey
Erdem Kinaci, Org. Nafiz Gurman Cad. Istanbul Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Genel Cerrahi Klinigi, Istanbul 34098, Turkey
Aytul Hande Yardimci, Department of Radiology, Istanbul Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul 34098, Turkey
Author contributions: Sevinc MM, Kinaci E and Bektaş H designed the study; Sevinc MM, Kinaci E, Bayrak S, Yardimci AH and Cakar E analyzed the literature and wrote the study.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained for all interventions and follow up.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Erdem Kinaci, MD, Org. Nafiz Gurman Cad. Istanbul Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Genel Cerrahi Klinigi, Fatih, Istanbul 34098, Turkey. erdemkinaci@gmail.com
Telephone: +90-506-5087930
Received: February 2, 2015 Peer-review started: February 3, 2015 First decision: May 18, 2015 Revised: June 19, 2015 Accepted: August 25, 2015 Article in press: August 25, 2015 Published online: October 7, 2015 Processing time: 238 Days and 15.9 Hours
Abstract
Addiction to synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) is a growing social and health problem worldwide. Chronic use of SCs may cause adverse effects in the gastrointestinal system. We describe a very rare case of acute gastric dilatation (AGD) and hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG), with findings of acute abdomen resulting from chronic use of a SC, Bonzai. AGD and HPVG were detected by computerized tomography examination. Patchy mucosal ischemia was seen in endoscopic examination. Despite the findings of an acute abdomen, a non-surgical approach with nasogastric decompression, antibiotic therapy, and close radiologic and endoscopic follow-up was preferred in the presented case. Clinical and radiologic findings decreased dramatically on the first day, and endoscopic findings gradually disappeared over 7 d. In conclusion, this case shows that chronic use of a SC may cause AGD and accompanying HPVG, which can be managed non-surgically despite the findings of acute abdomen.
Core tip: This is the first case of acute gastric dilatation and accompanying hepatic portal venous gas presenting as acute abdomen as a result of chronic use of a synthetic cannabinoid, Bonzai. Despite the findings of acute abdomen, this type of patient can be managed non-surgically with wide spectrum antibiotic therapy and close radiologic and endoscopic follow-up.
