• David A Farcy, Angelo Lapietra, Benjamin N Abo, and Michael Dalley.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center of Miami, Miami Beach, Florida.
• J Emerg Med. 2017 Sep 1; 53 (3): e33-e36.

BackgroundHerniation of intraabdominal contents into the pericardial cavity is exceptionally rare, and when seen, it is most often the result of trauma, postsurgical complication, or genetic defect. There have been only a few case reports describing spontaneous bowel herniation into the pericardium in minimally invasive cardiac procedures like cardiac ablation, pacemaker placement, and minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft.Case ReportWe report the case of a 65-year-old man who presented to an urgent care center complaining of abdominal and chest pain. This patient had recently undergone a laparoscopic hybrid maze procedure and ultimately had an incarcerated loop of small bowel herniate into the pericardial sac. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: We present this case to increase awareness among emergency physicians of the diagnosis of a pericardial hernia in patients presenting with gastrointestinal or cardiorespiratory symptoms after surgical procedures involving the diaphragm.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

22 keywords...

hide…