Signo del remolino: cirugía de urgencia o falacia ad populum

Introduction: The imaging test have become an important piece on the diagnosis of the acute abdomen in emergency, nevertheless medical conduct should be based on contextualized iconographic findings. The tomographic “whirlpool sign” establishes a surgical paradigm for its association with the bowel volvulus. Objetive: To register patients with diagnosis of acute abdomen looking for the “whirlpool sign” in the computed tomography and identify who needed surgical intervention. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study. 115 tomographies of acute obstructive abdomen have being evaluated. Results: 15 tomographies were excluded. The prevalence of the whirlpool sign was 5%. Diagnoses were intestinal malrotation (2%), midgut volvulus (1%), sigmoid volvulus (1%) and enterocolitis (1%). Only 60% of the patients required surgery. Discussion: The presence of the “whirlpool sign” not always determines a surgical resolution. It is not a pathognomonic sign of a punctual entity; it could represent an ordinary finding in the context of several pathologies. To apply the correct treatment, surgical or medical, for these patients it was important to recognize “whirlpool sign” variants.