Traumatic False Passage During Nasogastric Tube Insertion and Spontaneous Small Bowel Perforation in a Patient With Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: A Case Report

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a rare connective tissue disorder characterized by mutation in genes that encode or modify collagen. Clinical findings in these patients include skin hyperextensibility, hypermobility of joints, and tissue fragility. Vascular EDS (vEDS) is an autosomal dominant disease typically caused by a mutation in COL3A1, which encodes type III collagen. Presenting signs in the majority of vEDS patients include arterial rupture, uterine rupture, and sigmoid colon perforation. In this case report, the author presents an unusual case of spontaneous small bowel perforation and the creation of a traumatic false passage in the parapharyngeal space during a complicated nasogastric tube insertion in a patient with vEDS.