Acute Small Bowel Obstruction due to Intra-Abdominal Lithopedion

A case report of a 32-year old woman who had 2 years ago a miscarriage pregnancy at 5 months of gestation and was admitted urgently for abdominal pain lasting for 72 hours. Pain was accompanied by nausea, vomiting, absence of stools and gas for 48 hours. The abdomen was distended. Acute intestinal obstruction was diagnosed. Straight radiograph confirmed the obstruction and located it on the small bowel. At laparotomy, there was an agglutination of small bowel loops around l lithopedion, cause of the acute bowel obstruction. The loops were dilated and there was a local ischemia due to a mesenteric torsion around the lithopedion. The lithopedion was released and an ileal resection with immediate anastomosis was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged from hospital on the 10th postoperative day.