Blind loop syndrome : extensive diverticulosis of the small intestine

Abstract

A case study of a 53 year old man is described. The patient presented himself at the Surgical Out Patients section, of St. Luke`s Hospital Malta with a history of progressive weight loss and ill-health over the past three years. The present case illustrates an unusual condition of malabsorption due to multiple diverticula of the small intestine. The condition corresponds to the syndrome which develops in association with a blind loop of the intestine. Diagnosis of the diverticula of the small intestine depends mainly on barium studies. Notwithstanding, in 60% of cases the diverticula are discovered accidentally by radiological examination or laparotomy, and there are no symptoms which can be attributed to them, but in the remaining cases they may give rise to genuine, and sometimes disabling, abdominal and other symptoms, as in the present case.