A rare case of spontaneously resolved gastric outlet obstruction

Author Info

Chung Yip Chan Tan Hiang Jin

Corresponding Author

Tan Hiang Jin
Department of General Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore

A B S T R A C T

Purpose: Gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) rarely occurs after surgery. Even rarer, in cases of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Adhesive bands causing obstruction can be managed conservatively, failing so, will require surgical intervention. We describe a rare case of GOO due to adhesion band that resolved spontaneously after more than a month of conservative management. Method: A 71-year-old gentleman undergone living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in our institution. 2 months post-operatively, he developed gastric outlet obstruction. Water soluble contrast meal performed revealed hold up of contrast in first and second portion of duodenum (D1/D2) likely due to adhesions. Results: He was started on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) to build up his nutritional status and planned for gastric-jejunal (GJ) bypass as his symptoms did not resolve after a week. However, one month later, his condition improved drastically, and he was able to tolerate diet. A repeat water-soluble contrast meal showed a complete resolution of GOO more than 1 month after clinical presentation. Conclusion: In the event gastric outlet obstruction in a malnourished patient, conservative treatment with TPN and ‘drip and suck’ may be beneficial and can lead to spontaneous resolution without surgery required.

Article Info

Article Type

Case Report

Publication history

Received: Mon 04, Feb 2019
Accepted: Thu 21, Feb 2019
Published: Mon 11, Mar 2019

Copyright

© 2023 Tan Hiang Jin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.SCR.2019.01.013