Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2025 Feb 14;2025(2):rjae504.
doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjae504. eCollection 2025 Feb.

Petersen's space hernia as a complication of gastric bypass surgery: a case report

Affiliations
Case Reports

Petersen's space hernia as a complication of gastric bypass surgery: a case report

Mauricio Fabian Palacios et al. J Surg Case Rep. .

Abstract

Internal hernia is the most common complication of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Although its incidence rate is low, hernias are becoming more common in patients undergoing bariatric surgery, with Petersen's hernia being one of the most frequent. The symptoms of internal hernia are variable, and the sensitivity of imaging methods is limited, resulting in a high rate of misdiagnosis of internal hernia by computed tomography. Surgery continues to be the first treatment option in patients presenting with clinical symptoms of obstruction after undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Here, we present a case of intestinal obstruction secondary to Petersen's hernia after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in the context of bariatric surgery.

Keywords: Petersen’s hernia; bariatric surgery; gastric bypass; internal hernia; intestinal obstruction; laparoscopy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Abdominal tomography showing herniation of the intestinal loops toward the space posterior to the gastrojejunostomy; (B) dilated and congested intestinal loops associated with torsion and congestion of mesenteric vessels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Intestinal loops in Petersen’s space; (B) a 70 cm segment of necrotic jejunum starting at 15 cm from the angle of Treitz.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Surgical sample for pathology.

References

    1. López-Morales P, González-Valverde FM, Albarracín-Marín-Blazquez A. Hernia del espacio de Petersen en paciente intervenido de bypass gástrico. Cirugía y cirujanos 2020;88:772–5. 10.24875/ciru.20000905. - DOI - PubMed
    1. El Nogoomi I, Nouh AK, Jaber AA, et al. Petersen's hernia after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a case report. Cureus 2023;15:e50757. 10.7759/cureus.50757. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zaigham H, Ekelund M, Regnér S. Long-term follow-up and risk of recurrence of internal herniation after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Obes Surg 2023;33:2311–6. 10.1007/s11695-023-06653-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blockhuys M, Gypen B, Heyman S, et al. Internal hernia after laparoscopic gastric bypass: effect of closure of the Petersen defect - single-center study. Obes Surg 2019;29:70–5. 10.1007/s11695-018-3472-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karcz WK, Zhou C, Daoud M, et al. Modification of internal hernia classification system after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y bariatric surgery. Wideochir Inne Tech Maloinwazyjne 2015;10:197–204. 10.5114/wiitm.2015.52160. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types