Stercoral perforation is the perforation or rupture of the

intestine The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

's walls by its internal contents, such as hardened

feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...

or foreign objects. Hardened stools may form in prolonged constipation or other diseases which cause obstruction of transit, such as

Chagas disease Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by ''Trypanosoma cruzi''. It is spread mostly by insects in the subfamily ''Triatominae'', known as "kissing bugs". The symptoms change over the cou ...

, Hirschprung's disease, toxic colitis,

hypercalcemia Hypercalcemia, also spelled hypercalcaemia, is a high calcium (Ca2+) level in the blood serum. The normal range is 2.1–2.6 mmol/L (8.8–10.7 mg/dL, 4.3–5.2 mEq/L), with levels greater than 2.6 mmol/L defined as hypercalcemi ...

, and megacolon. Symptoms can include abdominal distension, pain, and nausea. Stercoral perforation is a rare and very dangerous, life-threatening situation, as well as a

surgical emergency Surgical emergency is a medical emergency for which immediate surgical intervention is the only way to solve the problem successfully. The following conditions are surgical emergencies: * Acute trauma Cardiothoracic * Cardiac tamponade * Acute ...

, because the spillage of contaminated intestinal contents into the

abdominal cavity The abdominal cavity is a large body cavity in humans and many other animals that contains many organs. It is a part of the abdominopelvic cavity. It is located below the thoracic cavity, and above the pelvic cavity. Its dome-shaped roof is the th ...

leads to peritonitis, a rapid

bacteremia Bloodstream infections (BSIs), which include bacteremias when the infections are bacterial and fungemias when the infections are fungal, are infections present in the blood. Blood is normally a sterile environment, so the detection of microb ...

( bacterial infection of the blood), with many complications.

References

Gastrointestinal tract disorders Gross pathology Articles containing video clips {{pathology-stub

See also

References