Introduction:

Intestinal pneumatosis is a rare condition that is characterized by submucosal or subserosal gas infiltration in the digestive tract. It is found more frequently in the small intestine, and rarely in an extraintestinal location. Its estimated prevalence is 0.03%.

Methods:

A literature search was performed in the Medline Pubmed, Sciencedirect, Tripdatabase and Uptodate databases, using as keywords Neumoperitoneum and Intestinal Cystoid Neumatosis. For the presentation of the clinical case, medical history data were collected, in addition to radiography images, tomography and photographic material of the surgical procedure.

Clinical case:

This is a 63-year-old woman with a history of collagenopathy, who consulted for abdominal pain and distension. Although she had no signs of peritoneal irritation, diagnostic images revealed pneumoperitoneum and free fluid in the peritoneal cavity. Intestinal perforation was suspected, and an exploratory laparotomy was performed, in which intestinal and peritoneal cystic pneumatosis in was found.

Conclusions:

Not all cases of pneumoperitoneum require surgery. There are spontaneous cases without peritoneal irritation, secondary to intestinal cystic pneumatosis. In cases of pneumoperitoneum in stable patients, with a not very clear etiological diagnosis, and in those who wish to rule out intestinal perforation or ischemia by surgical exploration, diagnostic laparoscopy is a good option and less aggressive than laparotomy.

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