Malabsorption Syndrome Corrected by Surgery

THE MALABSORPTION or celiac syndrome has received a great deal of interest in recent years since gliadin sensitivity has been recognized as one cause of this syndrome. Recent literature has emphasized the metabolic factors and the abnormalities of the small-bowel mucosa. Standard textbooks of pediatrics1,2have mentioned malrotation of the colon and other mechanical causes of the malabsorption syndrome; one textbook of surgery devotes a paragraph to this problem.3One recent review lists chronic, incomplete obstruction or other anatomical abnormality of the intestinal tract as a cause of the syndrome, but no references are given.4However, many physicians and surgeons remain unacquainted with this correctable cause of the malabsorption syndrome. Any patient with the malabsorption syndrome should be thoroughly investigated for malrotation of the large bowel. The following case is presented in order to draw attention to this surgically correctable lesion. Report of a Case A 1