Introduction:

Ogilvie’s syndrome or acute colonic pseudo-obstruction is the acute dilation of the colon without evidence of mechanical obstruction and is attributed to an autonomic imbalance of motor innervation of the colon. It is common in hospitalized patients with significant comorbidities. Its management is staggered, reserving surgical management for cases refractory to initial medical management or with the presence of complications such as perforation and sepsis data.

Case report:

We present the case of a 69-year-old male patient who went to the emergency service in the context of a cerebral vascular event. He underwent prolonged intubation, which began 17 days after his admission with abdominal distention refractory to medical management, with significant colonic dilation corroborated by abdominal tomography, so it was decided to manage it surgically.

Conclusions:

It is important to make an early diagnosis of this syndrome to avoid complications of the disease, as well as surgery. It is important to make a differential diagnosis with other causes of occlusion and have a high index of suspicion since it is a diagnosis of exclusion.