Penetrating Thoracoabdominal Trauma in a Patient with Situs Inversus Totalis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Introduction: Situs inversus totalis is a rare congenital anomaly in which the thoracic and abdominal organs are located inmirror positions compared to their usual anatomical locations. Trauma in a patient with situs inversus totalis is unexpected indaily emergency and surgical settings.Case Report: We present the case of a 36-year-old male patient who had multiple stab wounds to the thoracoabdominalregion, and situs inversus totalis was coincidentally diagnosed. We detected diaphragmatic laceration with gastric perforationand repaired it primarily.Conclusion: This anatomic anomaly could be challenging for acute care surgeons during surgical management if it is notpreoperatively recognized. We also reviewed and presented identifying characteristics of trauma patients with situs inversustotalis in the literature.