Benign persistent pneumoperitoneum in scleroderma.

We present a 68-year-old patient who, over a two-year period, was observed to have persistent benign pneumoperitoneum. The free air was present in the abdominal cavity without gastrointestinal perforation or pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis. The persistent pneumoperitoneum was a benign process and was not associated with peritonitis or other ill effects. The source of the free air was not clear. Conceivably, microperforations occurring in colonic diverticula or in distended intestinal wall induced the persistent benign pneumoperitoneum.