Petersen's Hernia With a Twist

Petersen's hernia is a well-recognized idiosyncratic complication of gastric bypass surgery for morbid obesity. Mesenteric vein thrombosis is a much rarer clinical entity and is generally associated with an underlying thrombophilia. We present a patient who developed a Petersen's space hernia with concomitant superior mesenteric vein thrombosis following a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure. We discuss the pathophysiology of both conditions and a potential causal relationship.