Korean J Med.  2011 Sep;81(3):366-371.

A Case of Spontaneous Pneumoperitoneum Caused by Giant Bulla

• Lee KJ
• Kang SW
• Park MB
• Jeong EH
• Kim JO
• Wang HB
• Kim TH

Abstract

A spontaneous pneumoperitoneum is air in the peritoneal space that is detectable radiologically and can be managed successfully by observation alone or a laparotomy. A 73-year-old man was admitted for low back pain. He had a giant bulla in the left upper lung, detected radiologically 7 years earlier. On admission, he had free air in the subphrenic area bilaterally, while the previous giant bulla was not seen. Based on the physical examination, we thought that the new free air did not indicate a surgical abdomen, and performed additional examinations to rule out other disease. There was no abnormal finding linked to the free air. The free air had almost disappeared on a subsequent chest X-ray. We report a rare case of spontaneous pneumoperitoneum caused by a giant bulla, with a literature review

Keyword

Pneumoperitoneum; Air

MeSH Terms

Abdomen
Aged
Blister
Humans
Laparotomy
Low Back Pain
Lung
Physical Examination
Pneumoperitoneum
Thorax