Tension fecal pneumothorax in a postpartum patient.

A 20-year-old woman developed severe shortness of breath 4 h after a cesarean section. Chest roentgenogram showed a pleural effusion and tension pneumothorax; insertion of a chest tube drained liquid stool. At surgery she was found to have a left diaphragmatic defect with herniation, strangulation, and perforation of the transverse colon into the pleural cavity.