Abdominal compartment syndrome in a patient with congenital megacolon

A 13-year-old male with a history of chronic congenital megacolon presented to the emergency department with a 1-day history of increasing abdominal p ain, distension, and emesis. The patient was admitted for bowel disimpactio n and irrigation. The patient rapidly developed an acute abdominal compartm ent syndrome because of his massive colonic dilation. Surgical decompressio n resulted in a reperfusion phenomenon and ultimately resulted in coagulopa thy and patient demise. This case presents a unique cause of the abdominal compartment syndrome and discusses the implications to the emergency physic ian.