Annular Pancreas Causing Duodenal Obstruction: A Case Report

Annular pancreas is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by the band of pancreatic tissue of variable width partially or completely encircling the duodenum. This abnormality, although at times clinically silent or may be the cause of a broad spectrum of diseases. Complications range from neonatal intestinal obstruction to more complex pathologies in the adult such as pancreatitis, duodenal stenosis or duodenal or gastric ulceration. This condition is important to recognise, because radiologists are usually the first person to diagnose such condition. We report the case of a young patient of 10 years old female hospitalized for epigastric pain and repeated episodes of vomiting, in whom radiological investigations showed an annular pancreas. No other congenital anomaly of the intra-abdominal organs was noted. Both the rarity of this congenital abnormality and its probability of successful correction by surgical means have prompted us to make the following presentation.