ABSTRACT
Intestinal malrotation is defined as the congenital abnormal positioning of the midgut, whereby the duodenojejunal (DJ) flexure lies right of the midline and relatively close to the ileocecal valve. This makes the dorsal mesenteric root narrow and puts the bowel at risk of midgut volvulus. Intestinal malrotation results from an arrest of normal rotation of the embryonic gut. The intestine develops in utero through three stages that occur during the first trimester. Patients with intestinal malrotation can remain asymptomatic and be diagnosed incidentally. Symptomatic infants, instead, may present with signs and symptoms of acute bowel obstruction due to the development of midgut volvulus, which differ according to the age of presentation. Plain abdominal radiography is usually aspecific, and can either be normal or show features of distended stomach and proximal duodenum with a distal paucity of gas. Laparoscopy can be performed for diagnosis of equivocal cases of malrotation as well as for correction of the defect.
