Conservative management of tension pneumoperitoneum.

Tension pneumoperitoneum is characterized by a rapidly increasing intra-abdominal pressure, the haemodynamic and respiratory consequences of which are potentially fatal. Prompt laparotomy, surgical drainage and identification of possible sites of perforation is usually advocated in spite of previous reports of negative laparotomies in the literature. We report the successful non-surgical management of two cases of tension pneumoperitoneum.