Spontaneous rupture of the stomach in nonneonatal period

Abstract

This study aimed to show the spontaneous rupture of the stomach in a 3-year-old girl. The patient was admitted to the pediatric clinic due to poor general condition that occurred suddenly with severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and the development of hypovolemic shock (blood pressure was unmeasurable, in acidosis), and after the ultrasound and abdominal X-ray, she was operated by the pediatric surgeon within 6 h of admission. During surgery, multiple defects of stomach mucosa with transmural bleeding without pathohistological changes in the muscle layer were found in the large stomach blood vessels. Treatment was continued in the pediatric intensive care unit with the development of life-limiting complications: peritonitis, sepsis, intracranial hemorrhage, and outcome of death. Rupture of the stomach caused by acute distension is rarely seen outside the neonatal period with fast clinical course and high mortality rate. Early diagnosis and rapid surgical procedures are a prerequisite to avoid the development of life-limiting complications that lead to a fatal outcome.