Adult transmesenteric hernia: report of two cases.

Transmesenteric hernia is a rare cause of bowel obstruction in adults. We herein describe two cases that occurred in adult women, ages 27 and 19. Both cases presented with abdominal pain without muscular defense signs. Computed tomography of both cases showed features of small bowel obstruction by an internal hernia. A laparotomy showed mesenteric defects of the mesentery of the ileum in the former case and the mesentery of the transverse colon in the latter case, with a herniating ileum. The involved small bowel was viable in both cases, and the bowel was pulled out of the mesenteric defect without resection. The mesenteric defects were then successfully repaired.