A rare case of acute mechanical intestinal obstruction due to isolated mesenteric panniculitis

Mesenteric panniculitis is a rare benign fibrotic condition that manifests with acute or chronic inflammation. It commonly affects small bowels whereas the mesenteric adipose tissue of large bowels is less commonly (20%) involved. In literature, there cases, mostly children and adolescents, where surgery has been used to relieve compression symptoms. We present a rare case of an adult patient who presented with acute mechanical intestinal obstruction secondary to isolated mesenteric panniculitis. We present this case to highlight the fact that this rare condition can cause acute mechanical intestinal obstruction even in adult patients and should be factored into the differential diagnosis.