aetiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
Causes include:
- perforated peptic ulcer, more commonly duodenal
- perforated diverticulum
- traumatic, including stab wounds and iatrogenic, for example as a complication of colonoscopy
- inflammatory bowel disease; as a complication of toxic megacolon in ulcerative colitis, as a rare complication in Crohn's, but perforation with local abscess or fistula formation is more common
- rarely as a result of tumour necrosis