PNEUMOPERITONEUM AND ASCITES SECONDARY TO BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH

Abdominal bloating, weight loss, pneumoperitoneum, and ascites develop ed in a 73-year-old woman, She had scleroderma, megajejunum, small bow el dysmotility and bacterial overgrowth. After treatment with a course of antibiotics, the pneumoperitoneum and ascites resolved, but her sy mptoms and the pneumoperitoneum recurred after the antibiotics were st opped. She was placed on cyclical antibiotics, and during a 2-year fol low-up period she has remained well. The pneumoperitoneum and ascites may have been secondary to small bowel bacterial overgrowth. Ours is t he first case that demonstrates this association.