Midgut volvulus as a complication of intestinal malrotation in adults

Seven adults with midgut volvulus as a complication of malrotation are presented. All patients were men with an average age of 33 years. Four presented with long histories of intermittent abdominal pain. In three patients, the twisted, corkscrew appearance of the barium column in the duodenum and proximal jejunum in an upper gastrointestinal series made the diagnosis. In the remaining patient, small-bowel follow-through performed three years before surgery showed intestinal malrotation. Three patients presented with the acute onset of severe abdominal pain. Plain films showed small-bowel obstruction and pneumatosis intestinalis in two patients and only nearly complete small-bowel obstruction in the third. Barium studies were not done in this group because of the need to proceed to exploratory laparotomy and the risk of perforation. In one patient, abdominal angiography suggested the diagnosis by showing abnormal courses of the mesenteric vessels to the volvulized segment of small bowel. All three of these patients showed ischemic segments of bowel at laparotomy.