Acute caecal volvulus

Forty-one cases of acute caecal volvulus have been analysed. The diagnosis is rarely made on clinical grounds alone but plain radiography of the abdomen should suggest the diagnosis in nearly 90 per cent of cases. Prompt surgery is imperative. When the bowel is viable, simple caecopexy combined with tube caecostomy is effective in fixing and decompressing the bowel in the short term and prevents recurrence.