Inverted Meckel’s diverticulum: Two case reports and a review of the literature

Abstract

Gastrointestinal surgeons seldom encounter inverted Meckel’s diverticulum in their clinical practice. We describe two cases of inverted Meckel’s diverticulum. If the patient has a disease-related complication such as intussusception, as with our first case, it can be easily detected. However, if the patient has subacute or chronic symptoms, as with our second case, the diagnosis might be delayed. Regardless of the disease-related complication, intussusception of inverted Meckel’s diverticulum can be easily managed with laparoscopic single-port surgery.

Keywords: Inverted Meckel’s diverticulum; Laparoscopic surgery; Intermittent hematochezia; Intussusception; Abdominal pain

Core tip: When clinicians encounter an adult patient complaining of intermittent hematochezia and/or abdominal pain without any evidence of gastrointestinal bleeding after esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy, inverted Meckel’s diverticulum and other small bowel pathologies must be considered to avoid unwanted complications related to these rare disease entities. Computed tomography scan is a beneficial diagnostic tool to identify small bowel pathology and to differentiate among diverse diseases, including lipomas, inflammatory fibroid polyps, vascular malformations, lymphomas, inverted diverticula and malignant tumors.