A rare cause of haematemesis: retrograde jejunogastric intussusception.

Retrograde Jejunogastric intussusception is a well-recognised, rare but potentially fatal, long-term complication of gastro-jejunostomy or Billroth-II reconstruction. Only about 200 cases have been reported in literature to date. Diagnosis of this condition is difficult in most of the cases. To avoid mortality early diagnosis and prompt surgical intervention is mandatory. Since gastrojejunostomies with vagotomy are on a declining trend, it is extremely rare to come across such a complication. We report such a case that presented with haematemesis.

A turtle in the belly: helminthoma.

A helminthoma is an inflammatory tumor of the bowel wall, which results when an intestinal worm or larva penetrates the wall of the gut, usually the cecum or colon. A helminthoma can occur in any country where infestation of the intestinal tract with worms is common. It has been seen most often in West and East Africa and parts of South America. In some parts of West Africa, this disease is well known to villagers, who describe it as having 'a turtle in the belly.' We report such a case with diagnostic dilemma.

Mesocolic hernia: an unusual internal hernia.

Internal hernia may be either congenital or acquired. Its incidence has been reported to be 1-2%. Herniation may be persistent or intermittent. Internal hernia is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction with a reported incidence of 0.2-0.9%. The most common type is paraduodenal. Less common types include mesocolic hernia, which occurs following abdominal surgery. We report mesocolic hernias in two young patients, which presented as small bowel obstruction without any prior abdominal surgery.