Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of small-bowel torsion.

Background: We report a case of congenital small-bowel torsion detected by prenatal ultrasonographic examination.

Methods: A 27-year-old primigravida was found to have a fetus with a small-bowel obstruction by ultrasound examination during the third trimester. At 35 weeks of gestation, she complained of absence of fetal activity. A nonstress test showed a nonreactive pattern with reduced baseline variability. Sonographic examination revealed heterogeneous echogenicity within the dilated bowel, and loss of peristalsis. Also noted was a small amount of fetal ascites. After birth, torsion of the dilated small bowel associated with ileal atresia was found at exploratory laparotomy.

Conclusions: Serial sonographic examinations with special attention to changes in the dilated bowel are useful in the management of prenatally diagnosed small-bowel obstruction.