Small bowel obstruction due to herniation into an extra-anatomical arterial bypass tunnel: A first case report

Introduction:We highlight the importance of considering rarer causes of small bowel obstruction in patients presenting after extra-anatomical arterial bypass. Case presentation: Our patient underwent a left common iliac-to-bifemoral bypass extra-anatomical graft for critical limb ischaemia. The patient developed mechanical small bowel obstruction on the 20th postoperative day. Emergency laparotomy revealed incarcerated, obstructed small bowel trapped in the graft tunnel. Recovery was satisfactory following small bowel resection. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, small bowel herniation into an arterial bypass graft tunnel,with successful treatment outcome, has not been reported to date.