An unusual presentation of spontaneous pneumoperitoneum secondary to the rupture of a gas-containing pyogenic liver abscess: report of a case

Abstract

We describe a rare case of spontaneous pneumoperitoneum secondary to the rupture of a gas-containing pyogenic liver abscess in a 59-year-old man. The patient was diagnosed as having a hollow viscus perforation based on a sudden onset of acute abdominal pain along with radiological evidence of bilateral subphrenic feee air (pneumoperitoneum), and underwent an emergency laparotomy. Contrary to expectations, the surgery revealed no perforations of the hollow viscus, but instead a ruptured liver abscess at the dome of the right hepatic lobe was identified associated with suppurative peritonitis. To the best of our knowledge, such a case of spontaneous pneumoperitoneum secondary to the rupture of a gas-containing liver abscess is extremely rare.