Wilkie’s Syndrome Following Weight Loss in a Trauma Patient

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Author Info

George Oosthuizen

Corresponding Author

George Oosthuizen
Department of Surgery, Ngwelezana hospital, University of KwaZulu Natal, Empangeni, South Africa

A B S T R A C T

Wilkie’s syndrome, or superior mesenteric artery syndrome, is a rare condition of duodenal obstruction caused by compression of the superior mesenteric artery on the third part of the duodenum. The diagnosis should be considered in a patient who has experienced significant weight loss and now presents with persistent vomiting, especially if the vomiting occurs with the patient in the supine position and is alleviated by the lateral or prone position. The diagnosis can be confirmed by imaging studies demonstrating compression of the third part of the duodenum, and the main aim of treatment should be to pass a feeding tube beyond the point of obstruction to allow enteral feeding. The condition improves spontaneously with weight gain. Further treatment options include parenteral feeding and operative bypass in select cases. Here we present a case of Wilkie’s syndrome in a trauma patient with significant weight loss, together with a review of the literature on this interesting topic.

Article Info

Article Type

Case Report and Review of the Literature

Publication history

Received: Tue 22, Sep 2020
Accepted: Sat 03, Oct 2020
Published: Mon 26, Oct 2020

Copyright

© 2023 George Oosthuizen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.SCR.2020.10.06