Delayed Diagnosis of Small Intestine Perforation Causes Sepsis

Case Overview

This case involves a 67-year-old female patient, who previously had an esophagectomy, and then developed complications after undergoing surgery to her small intestine. The patient was losing a significant amount of weight over a 6-month period, so an attempt to re-establish the feeding tubes was made. Her caregivers tried to insert the feeding tube three times before being successful. However, 2 days later she was taken to the emergency room for severe abdominal pain and it was revealed that the patient had suffered a perforation of the small intestine. There was a delay in diagnosing the perforation during which she developed sepsis. Blood clotting from sepsis grew so severe that she is no longer able to move her left leg.