Abstract
A 60-year-old man visited our hospital after suddenly developing vomiting and abdominal pain that gradually worsened. He was immediately admitted after marked intestinal dilatation was seen on a plain X-ray film. The patient had no history of surgery, and a whirl sign was observed around the superior mesenteric artery on computed tomography. Since volvulus of the small intestine was suspected, emergency surgery was performed. On laparotomy, a small amount of serous ascites was observed, and the small intestine was markedly dilated throughout. Volvulus of the small intestine with a 270° anti-clockwise rotation of the mesentery was observed around the superior mesenteric artery, and ischemia was also seen. No necrosis was observed. Upon untwisting the volvulus and examining the entire small intestine, a foreign object, 4×2 cm in size, was found in the intestinal tract, approximately 10 cm proximal to the terminal ileum. The object was extracted by making an incision in the intestine and identified as a mass of seaweed. The patient was diagnosed with volvulus of the small intestine caused by obstruction due to food. The patient indicated at a later date that he had consumed a dish containing kelp two days before onset. While cases of volvulus of the small intestine are occasionally reported, there are no other reports of cases caused by obstruction due to food. We therefore report the present case, which appears to be extremely rare, with reference to the literature.
