Spontaneous perforation of Meckel’s diverticulum in an adult female with literature review

Abstract

BACKGROUND Perforated Meckel's diverticulum is a rare complication of an already rare disease process, which often mimics a perforated appendix on presentation and diagnosis. The majority of case reports for perforation involve either a foreign body or fecalith. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 54-year-old female who initially presented at another institution with signs and symptoms of acute appendicitis and underwent appendectomy with a drain left in place. Subsequently, she underwent exploratory laparotomy at our institution for a perceived stump leak or incidental perforation and was found to have a perforated Meckel's, with no evidence of foreign body or fecalith. CONCLUSION The literature of Meckel's diverticulum is reviewed, and we discuss the difficulty in diagnosis as well as the quandary of incidental resection.