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Pneumatic perforation of the colon during colonoscopy

Is the hypermobile right colon a risk factor?

  • Published:
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Abstract

Perforation of the colon by pneumatic injury during colonoscopy is a rare complication. Intraoperative observations of a patient who developed massive cecal distention, pneumatosis coli and severe pneumoperitoneum during colonoscopy suggest that an isolated, air-trapping colonic segment is a factor in the mechanism of such injury. The possibility that a poorly fixed, hypermobile cecum and right colon predispose to such injury by air insufflation during colonoscopy is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi

    Tee Reeve M.D. &  John S. Kukora M.D.

  2. Department of Surgery, Jackson, Mississippi Veterans Administration Medical Centers, Jackson, Mississippi

    Tee Reeve M.D. &  John S. Kukora M.D.

Authors
  1. Tee Reeve M.D.
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  2. John S. Kukora M.D.
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Cite this article

Reeve, T., Kukora, J.S. Pneumatic perforation of the colon during colonoscopy. Dis Colon Rectum 27, 751–753 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02554609

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02554609

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