A distended, painful abdomen and ‘whirlpool-like’ distribution of the small intestine on CT led Chinese doctors to this “extremely rare” case of diffuse intestinal lipomatosis.

Their 58-year-old patient presented to ED with sudden and intense lower abdominal pain, following two days of swelling, nausea, vomiting and reduced defecation.

Her doctors noted distension with “taut abdominal muscles”, widespread tenderness without a palpable mass, hyperactive bowel sounds with audible splashing and no vascular bruits.

Her blood and urine test results were normal, showing no signs of impaired renal or hepatic function.