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Case Reports
. 2019 Jul 2;11(7):e5066.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.5066.

Howship-Romberg Sign and Bowel Obstruction: A Case Report

Rasha Saeed  1 , Mohamed Ahmed  2 , Gustavo Lara  3 , Ahmed Mahmoud  3 , Harvey Nurick  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Howship-Romberg Sign and Bowel Obstruction: A Case Report

Rasha Saeed et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is associated with high morbidity and mortality in acute care surgery practice, with hernias constituting a significant portion of the underlying etiology. Physical examination and maneuvers such as changing the extremity position of the patient can further improve clinician's diagnostic acumen to identify the cause of the disease. We present a case of SBO in an 83-year-old female whose physical exam was consistent with an underlying obturator hernia.

Keywords: howship-romberg sign; obturator hernia; small bowel obstruction.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Patient in a comfortable position
The patient kept her right hip flexed to minimize her pain.
Figure 2
Figure 2. CT scan pelvis
Pectineus muscle (black arrow); small bowel (red arrow); obturator muscle (blue arrow)
Figure 3
Figure 3. Operative findings
Gangrenous loop of the bowel (blue arrow)
Figure 4
Figure 4. Intraoperative findings
Obturator hernia defect prior to repair (white arrow)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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