Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 6, 2023; 11(28): 6943-6948
Published online Oct 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i28.6943
Unusual case of emphysematous cystitis mimicking intestinal perforation: A case report
Hye Yoon Kang, Dae-Sup Lee, Donghyoun Lee
Hye Yoon Kang, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul 06338, South Korea
Dae-Sup Lee, Department of Emergency Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, South Korea
Donghyoun Lee, Department of Surgery, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju National University College of Medicine, Jeju 63241, South Korea
Author contributions: Kang HY and Lee DS contributed equally to this work. Kang HY wrote and elaborated the manuscript, and performed both the clinical diagnosis and the subsequent patient follow-up; Lee DS contributed to data analysis, and drafting and revision of the manuscript; and all authors agree to take responsibility for all aspects of the work.
Supported by a research grant from Jeju National University Hospital in 2019, No. 2019-30.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for the publication of this case report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Donghyoun Lee, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju National University College of Medicine, 15, Aran 13-gil, Jeju 63241, South Korea. dlee@jejunu.ac.kr
Received: July 16, 2023
Peer-review started: July 16, 2023
First decision: July 28, 2023
Revised: August 12, 2023
Accepted: September 11, 2023
Article in press: September 11, 2023
Published online: October 6, 2023
Processing time: 70 Days and 20.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Emphysematous cystitis (EC) is a rare form of complicated urinary tract infection characterized by gas within the bladder wall and lumen. Even with imaging examination(s), such as computed tomography, it can be difficult to differentiate between conditions when there is a significant amount of free air in the abdominal cavity, such as in cases of intestinal perforation and other diseases. Successful treatment of the patient described herein highlights the importance of accurately diagnosing EC, which can be difficult to differentiate from an intestinal perforation.