Emergency Department Point-of-Care Ultrasound Diagnosis of a Large Bowel Obstruction Due to Metastatic Rectal Cancer: A Case Report

Division

North Florida

Hospital

Ocala Regional Medical Center

Document Type

Case Report

Publication Date

9-5-2022

Keywords

abdominal pain, ultrasound, acoustic enhancement, colorectal cancer, rectal cancer, mechanical large bowel obstruction, point-of-care-ultrasound, emergency medicine

Disciplines

Diagnosis | Digestive System Diseases | Emergency Medicine | Gastroenterology | Neoplasms

Abstract

Large bowel obstruction (LBO) is a life-threatening condition seen most often in the geriatric population. LBO can present with nonspecific abdominal pain that can overlap with other pathologies, such as abdominal infection, acute aortic disease, intestinal perforation, and atypical acute coronary syndrome in the geriatric population. Delays in diagnosis of colonic obstruction result in significant mortality due to complications involving bowel necrosis, perforation, and sepsis. In the emergency department (ED), abdominal point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) can diagnose LBO and facilitate the assessment of the wide differential inherent to elderly abdominal pain. The authors report a rare ED application of abdominal POCUS to facilitate rapid diagnosis of an LBO secondary to rectal cancer.

Publisher or Conference

Cureus

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