Spontaneous colon perforation can be classified into stercoral and idiopathic. Stercoral type is associated with chronic constipation, thus it is rare in infants and children. The idiopathic type is sporadic and could occur at any age. Delay in diagnosing or treating idiopathic colon perforation is associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. There are few studies on rectal perforation related to other etiologies or past the neonatal period, and their effect on disease onset and prognosis are unknown.
We report on a case of 2-year-and-5-month-old Oromo boy who presented with fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and progressive abdominal pain of 5-day duration. The boy underwent an exploratory laparotomy for suspected peritonitis and there was a single perforation of approximately 2.0 cm size in the anterior part of the upper one-third of rectum. The perforated rectum was repaired primarily and sigmoid divided diversion colostomy was carried out.
It is important to be aware of idiopathic colon perforation in children, a rare but dangerous condition with high mortality and morbidity in cases of delayed diagnosis or management. Pediatricians and surgeons should consider colon perforation as a cause in children who present with abdominal distention and a history of diarrhea for more than 5 days.
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