Transvaginal small-bowel evisceration: a case report

Transvaginal small-bowel evisceration is rare. Only 47 case reports appear in the literature in English. Review of this literature shows that vaginal evisceration occurs mainly in women who are older, multiparous, and have undergone vaginal surgery. The immediate cause of evisceration is either sudden, increased intraabdominal pressure, trauma, or a spontaneous event. The small bowel and omentum are most commonly involved. Surgical repair is performed vaginally, abdominally, or by both methods. We present a case of transvaginal small bowel evisceration caused by inadvertent self-induced trauma, a heretofore unreported cause of this complication, in a 79-year-old woman with known weakness of her pelvic structural support. She experienced sudden evisceration of small bowel following manual decompression of her cystocele during voiding. We used a combined abdominal and vaginal approach to examine the small and large intestines and mesentery for trauma, attach the vaginal vault to the shortened uterosacral ligament, obliterate the cul-de-sac using the Moschowitz procedure, and repair the defect in the levator plate. To limit risk, patients should be evaluated for predisposing conditions. We recommend a combined abdominal and vaginal surgical approach to adequately evaluate the involved tissues and to effect repair.