Published online Nov 16, 2014. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v6.i11.568
Revised: September 17, 2014
Accepted: October 1, 2014
Published online: November 16, 2014
Processing time: 197 Days and 18.5 Hours
This study reports a 69-year-old, obese, female patient presenting with a biliary leakage after laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis. Closure of the umbilical trocar site had been neglected during the laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Early, on postoperative day five, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) requirement after laparoscopic cholecystectomy resolved the biliary leakage problem but resulted with a more complicated clinical picture with an intestinal obstruction and severe abdominal pain. Computed tomography revealed a strangulated hernia from the umbilical trocar site. Increased abdominal pressure during ERCP had strained the weak umbilical trocar site. Emergency surgical intervention through the umbilicus revealed an ischemic small bowel segment which was treated with resection and anastomosis. This report demonstrates that negligence of trocar site closure can result in very early herniation, particularly if an endoscopic intervention is required in the early postoperative period.
Core tip: This report demonstrates that negligence of trocar site closure after laparoscopic surgery can result in very early trocar site herniation. This may occur particularly if an endoscopic intervention is required in the early postoperative period. Suturing the trocar site is not only important for the late trocar site herniations, it is imperative for early hernia problems as well.