Chronic Yersinia enterocolitis infection presenting as intestinal obstruction

Yersinia enterocolitica is a well-known cause of acuteenteritis. In its classical form, the disease is self limiting and ischaracterized by abdominal pain which, in some cases, mayresemble acute appendicitis, thus leading to emergency appendectomy.In adults and children older than 7 years, a chronic form isalso described, with recurrent abdominal pain, constipation,mesenteric lymphadenopathy, reactive arthritis, Reiter syndrome,and other autoimmune-like disorders often linked with HLA B27antigen positivity. We report on a case of intestinal obstruction 1year after emergency appendectomy as the first clinical manifestationof Yersinia enterocolitica infection. To our knowledge, this isthe first report in Italy of this clinical association.