A Rare Cause of Postoperative Abdominal Pain in a Spinal Fusion Patient.

We present the case of a 12-year-old girl who underwent an uncomplicated posterior spinal fusion with instrumentation for scoliosis and who later developed nausea, emesis, and abdominal pain. We discuss the epidemiology, prevalence, anatomic findings, symptoms, diagnostic tests, and clinical management, including nonsurgical and surgical therapies, of superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMAS), a rare condition. Over a 2-week period, the patient developed an uncommon type of bowel obstruction likely related to her initial thin body habitus, correction of her deformity, and weight loss after surgery.