Ebruen-Oran , Grsel Soybir , Nesimi Mecit , Emre Oran , Metin Gler , Trker Bulut
Background: Lumbar discectomy is the most common operation in spinal surgery.
Albeit rarely, it can cause severe complications such as vascular and visceral injuries.
Case report: We report a case of a 30-year-old woman who developed acute
abdomen on the third postoperative day following L5-S1 microdiscectomy. At the
laparatomy, appendix was found to be partially transected at midlevel and appendectomy
was performed. Her postoperative recovery was uneventful apart from
the lumbar wound infection.
Conclusions: Surgeons should be aware of visceral injury as a possible complication
of discectomy and provide early diagnosis and treatment to prevent potentially
fatal outcomes. In addition, to our knowledge, we present the first case report of
appendix injury secondary to microdiscectomy and a brief review of the literature
on intestinal injuries following lumbar disc surgery.
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