Fast atrial fibrillation and caecal volvulus - A case report and evidence based management

Abstract

An 81-year-old Caucasian lady with permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) was admitted with palpitations and fast AF. She took bisoprolol and warfarin with subtherapeutic international normalised ratio. Rate control of AF was successful. Around 36 h later, she developed abdominal pain and vomiting. A caecal volvulus was diagnosed on CT. She underwent emergency laparotomy. Intraoperatively, an obstructing tumour was found in the colonic hepatic flexure. It was deemed inoperable. The caecal volvulus was decompressed and an ileo-transverse colon bypass was performed. She made a good recovery and her fast AF settled postoperatively. She was seen by the oncology team and was discharged with palliative care support with no further exacerbation of AF.