Pneumoperitoneum without peritonitis: a case report.

Pneumoperitoneum (PP), or air within the abdominal cavity, is frequently the harbinger of serious abdominal pathology and frequently represents visceral perforation. Most cases of PP ultimately need surgical exploration and intervention. In addition, cases of nonsurgical PP have also been described in the literature, and it has been suggested that these cases can be managed conservatively. This report documents the occurrence of incidentally found PP. However, it is unclear how often PP is found incidentally, and more importantly how to manage the patient with clinically unsuspected PP without peritoneal signs. Future research could help to better determine the incidence of unsuspected PP and to validate the various diagnostic and treatment algorithms in the literature.