Postoperative small bowel obstruction secondary to single malformed staple following laparoscopic total abdominal colectomy

Surgical staplers are ubiquitous in gastrointestinal surgery, especially laparoscopy. Intraperitoneal staples are designed to be inert and are generally regarded as benign; however, complications from primarily malformed staples can rarely occur. Here, we present a case of early mechanical postoperative small bowel obstruction due to a surgical staple following laparoscopic total abdominal colectomy and end ileostomy creation performed for medically refractory ulcerative colitis. Management consisted of diagnostic laparoscopy and careful extraction of a malformed surgical staple tethering a loop of small bowel to the rectal stump. Eight similar cases following gastrointestinal surgery have been identified in the literature, all occurring in the first 2 weeks following laparoscopic appendectomy. To our knowledge, this is the first case described following laparoscopic total abdominal colectomy, with high-grade small bowel obstruction at the level of the rectal stump staple line.

Extracutaneous Manifestations of Calciphylaxis: Ogilvie’s Syndrome With Perforation

Calciphylaxis or calcific uremic arteriolopathy is a rare entity associated with the end-stage renal disease that presents with necrotic cutaneous lesions that may require surgical management. Extracutaneous manifestations of calciphylaxis including visceral ischemia have been reported; however, surgical intervention for colonic ischemia has only been reported twice. We report a 49-year-old male with calciphylaxis who subsequently developed Ogilvie’s syndrome complicated by perforation requiring total abdominal colectomy with end ileostomy. Surgeons treating this disease should have a heightened awareness of the extracutaneous sequelae of calciphylaxis.