[Intestinal volvulus in pregnancy]

Intestinal occlusion is a rare pathologic event during pregnancy occurring mostly in the second and third trimenon when increased volume of the uterus and the consequent displacement of abdominal organs cause complications of pathologies which would otherwise escape notice, such as intestinal adhesions, to become manifest. Diagnosis is difficult for a number of reasons. Vomiting during the first trimenon and mild abdominal pain during the third are often neglected or considered to be part of the normal course of pregnancy; pain is sometimes referred to atypical sites due to the displacement of abdominal organs; in other cases, the high endorphin tonus is apt to reduce the customary defence reaction. All this should not cause time to be lost, and whenever intestinal occlusion is suspected all the necessary diagnostic procedures must at once be carried out and appropriate therapy must speedily be started so as to reduce the risk of mortality and morbidity for mother and fetus. Management of ileus in pregnancy is identical to that for the non pregnant woman, except for the need to empty the uterus in cases in which it prevents treatment or if the fetus has reached a sufficient degree of pulmonary maturity. The paper describes a case of ileal volvulus and revisits the literature analyzing the diagnostic and therapeutic options suggested.