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Case Reports
. 2024 Dec 26;16(12):e76440.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.76440. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Abdominal Bulging Due to Abdominal Muscle Palsy Secondary to Herpes Zoster: A Report of a Rare Case

Atsushi Hiramoto  1 , Ryo Nagase  1 , Yosuke Nakata  1 , Yuki Arai  1 , Takashi Sato  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Abdominal Bulging Due to Abdominal Muscle Palsy Secondary to Herpes Zoster: A Report of a Rare Case

Atsushi Hiramoto et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

A 59-year-old man visited our hospital for examination of left-sided abdominal bulging. About a week earlier, he had developed an abdominal skin rash and was diagnosed with herpes zoster. Computed tomography excluded intra-abdominal organic disease and true hernia. We diagnosed the patient with abdominal muscle palsy, i.e., abdominal pseudohernia, secondary to varicella zoster reactivation. Abdominal pseudohernia is a rare complication of herpes zoster but is not life-threatening. Nevertheless, physicians should keep this clinical entity in mind when examining a patient presenting with abdominal wall bulging.

Keywords: abdominal bulging; abdominal muscle palsy; abdominal pseudohernia; herpes zoster; varicella zoster virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Photographs. (a) At the first hospital visit, a red rash is observed at the lower left side of the navel, near the abdominal bulge. (b) Three months later, the abdominal bulging persists.
Figure 2
Figure 2. (a) Plain abdominal X-ray: The profile of the left-sided abdominal wall bulging is evident (arrows), but no detailed structure is visible. (b) Abdominal computed tomography without contrast (horizontal section): Thinning of the left-sided abdominal muscles is seen (arrows), but there is no lesion in the intra-abdominal space.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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