Review Journal
Review Journal
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords:
Compressed air Introduction and importance: Compressed air is used to apply paint, wash vehicles or machines, and remove water
colon perforation droplets after washing the precision instrument. Barotrauma due to high-pressure compressed air is extremely
Barotrauma rare.
Case presentation: We report a case of transverse colon perforation caused by a compressed air gun in a 20-year-
old male. He used a compressed air machine to dust after work, and a coworker inserted compressed air
transanally as a joke. Although he returned home once, he consulted a former hospital with worsening abdominal
pain. Radiography and computed tomography (CT) revealed a massive amount of free air. The patient was
admitted to our hospital. The patient underwent emergency surgery. Transverse colon perforation with extensive
serosal tears and massive air bubbles inside the omental bursa were observed. Double-barrel colostomy using
transverse colon perforation point for decompression and diverting the stoma at the ileum end was performed
with serosal tear repair and abdominal cleaning drainage. Four months after the surgery, the patient underwent
colostomy and diverting stoma closure.
Clinical discussion: The management of colon injury due to compressed air has two aspects: tension pneumo-
peritoneum and colon injury. The initial management of tension pneumoperitoneum is converted to open
pneumoperitoneum and early emergency operation for colon injury is recommended as soon as full-thickness
perforation is diagnosed.
Conclusion: Transanal high-pressure compressed air can cause lethal situations, and we encountered a similar
case that required surgical intervention.
1. Introduction
intraoperative decompression of the bowel in the presence of a dis-
Barotrauma due to high-pressure compressed air is extremely rare tended bowel, resection of severely injured segments of the colon,
[1]. Most studies have reported that colon perforation due to com- repair of perforation with proXimal diverting colostomy or
pressed air occurs in the rectosigmoid junction, sigmoid colon, and enterostomy, and drainage and irrigation of the contaminated
abdominal cavity [2,8,9].
sigmoid descending junction [2–4], and there have been few studies on
perforation distal to the sigmoid rectum. In general, it is easy to diagnose We report a rare case of transverse colon perforation with an
colonic perforation because severe abdominal distension, pain, and extensive colon serosal tear presenting with tension pneumoperitoneum
peritoneal signs, such as abdominal rigidity, tenderness, and rebound and salvageable colon perforation.
tenderness, are recognized after exposure to compressed air [5,6], in This work has been reported in line with the SCARE 2020 criteria
which massive free air has been observed in several images [7]. [10].
Surgical operations for colonic barotrauma include rectal tube
decompression,
* Corresponding author at: Department of Surgery, Nagasaki Rosai Hospital, 2-12-5 Setogoshi, Sasebo, 857-0134, Nagasaki, Japan.
E-mail address: pay-it-forward.197675@hotmail.co.jp (T. Tanaka).
1
Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan, 852-8501.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijscr.2022.107743
Received 6 August 2022; Received in revised form 3 October 2022; Accepted 9 October 2022
Available online 13 October 2022
2210-2612/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IJS Publishing Group Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
T. Tanaka et al. International Journal of Surgery Case Reports 100 (2022) 107743
2. Case presentation revealed massive free air and distention of the colon.
3. Discussion
a b
2
T. Tanaka et al. International Journal of Surgery Case Reports 100 (2022) 107743
a b
c d
[2,15]. In this case, the pressure was 0.7 MPa (7.14 kg/cm 2), and the
value was extremely above 0.29 kg/cm2.
Most reported colon injuries due to compressed air occur in the
rectosigmoid junction, sigmoid colon, and sigmoid descending
junction
[2–4], and perforations distal to the rectosigmoid junction have seldom
been reported. This may be because the rectum and anus are well sup-
ported by pelvic structures and bilateral fiXity of the rectosigmoid
junction. Thus, injury resulting from high-pressure barotrauma depends
on air pressure, airflow velocity, anal resting pressure, and distance
between the source and anus [16]. In addition, Sy et al. discussed that
during rapid air distention, the inability to produce a total obstruction
by the bending of sigmoid and high pressure allows the flow of air
proXimally to the next anatomical bending, such as splenic flexure
and hepatic flexure and ileocaecal valve, resulting in a stepwise closed
loop obstruction, causing the other site of the bowel to be injured and
perforated, and the comparison of different section of the colon shows
that the rectum supports the greatest pressure and the sigmoid, trans-
verse colon, caecum in decreasing strength [3]. While sigmoid colon
perforation has been reported in the majority of cases, this case was a
rare transverse colon perforation with an extensive colon serosal tear.
Severe abdominal distension, pain, and peritoneal signs, such as
abdominal rigidity, tenderness, and rebound tenderness, are
recognized
3
T. Tanaka et al. International Journal of Surgery Case Reports 100 (2022) 107743