Point-of-care ultrasound for the diagnosis of an atypical small bowel obstruction in a cannabis user: a case report.

Abstract

This case report describes an atypical small bowel obstruction in a 71- years old cannabis user and how point-of-care of ultrasound (PoCUS) helped to its management by further orientating the physician toward the bowel obstruction etiology, namely intussusception. Intussusception is the invagination of an intestinal segment into the adjacent segment. The acute clinical presentation of intussusception often has non-specific symptoms, and the diagnosis can be challenging. While the most common etiology is neoplasm, intussusception also occurs in bowel motility disorder such as after cannabis use. Although this case report illustrates intussusception PoCUS findings, these should nevertheless be integrated into the clinical picture and CT-scan should remain the gold standard complementary examination in case of a suspected bowel obstruction.