An Incidental Discovery of a Large Falciform Ligament Defect During Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

The falciform ligament is a thin fold of peritoneum that attaches the liver to the anterior abdominal wall and the diaphragm. Its defect refers to an abnormal opening in the falciform ligament, a very rare condition that can be congenital or due to acquired causes. In this report, we present a case of a 42-year-old patient with a large asymptomatic falciform ligament defect incidentally discovered during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Due to the potential risk of small bowel herniation through the defect, we recommend cutting the remaining ligament to avoid this unwanted complication, as we did here.