Clinical introduction

An adult male with a history of caecal adenocarcinoma and subsequent right hemicolectomy presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain, nausea and non-bilious emesis. He was diffusely tender to palpation across the abdomen with marked distention. His vital signs and laboratory tests were unremarkable. His abdominal pain improved with intravenous opioid medication. His urinalysis was negative. A point-of-care ultrasound (figure 1) was performed by the emergency …