Trocar site hernia resulting in intestinal necrosis 48 hours after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

Trocar site hernia is a potentially serious sequela of laparoscopic procedures that may lead to bowel incarceration and strangulation. We report a case of trocar site hernia secondary to robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

A 71-year-old Japanese man underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy without any intraoperative events; however, a brief dislodgement of a 12-mm AIRSEAL^® trocar occurred. Forty-eight hours after the procedure, the patient exhibited coffee ground vomitus. Computed tomography revealed an intestinal prolapse at the 12-mm AIRSEAL^® trocar site. He was diagnosed with a strangulated bowel due to trocar site hernia. Following an emergency exploration, 25 cm of gangrenous intestine was resected, and a functional end-to-end anastomosis was performed.

In this case, brief dislodgement of the AIRSEAL^® trocar may have caused severe subcutaneous emphysema and intestinal sucking. In such situations, certain closure of both, the peritoneum and the fascia, is necessary.