Intestinal obstruction due to axial twisting of bowel in transmesenteric hernia.

A baby, born with gastroschisis, had an unrepaired large aperture in the mesocolon close to a short segment of colon. One day, the entire length of bowel proximal to the defect traversed the rent. The free segment of colon was affected by the resulting twist along the long axis of the bowel and became obstructed. A large mesenteric defect, albeit too wide to strangulate the bowel, is not totally innocuous and should always be closed.