Colorectal perforation by self-induced hydrostatic pressure: a report of two cases

Most iatrogenic colorectal perforations occur as a result of endoscopic or fluoroscopic studies. Accidents associated with hydrostatic pressure-induced perforation are rarely reported, and self-induced hydrostatic pressure is an extremely rare cause of perforation because the anal sphincter complex may provide a protective barrier against perianal hydrostatic pressure. We present two cases of rectosigmoid colon perforation secondary to self-induced hydrostatic pressure.

A 61-year-old man and a 45-year-old man presented with abdominal pain after forceful entry of tap water into the rectum, during rinsing of the anus after defecation in the first case, and during self-administered enema in the second case. Emergency operations were performed with the suspicion of hydrostatic pressure-induced rectal injury, and showed rectosigmoid mesenteric perforation in both cases. Resection of the diseased segment and end colostomy (Hartmann's procedure) was performed in the first case, and primary resection and anastomosis in the second case. The pathologic results showed abrupt loss of the colonic wall in the mesenteric border, without evidence of other inflammatory disease; these findings were consistent with acute mechanical colon injury. The postoperative course in both cases was uneventful.

These cases put forth an unusual type of colorectal injury, caused specifically by hydrostatic pressure, thus adding to the available literature on hydrostatic pressure-induced injury.