Bird beak sign (right colon)

Last revised by Owen Kang on 5 Aug 2018

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Khader.O.Thabet M, Kang O, Luijkx T, et al. Bird beak sign (right colon). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 20 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-49120

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-49120

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/49120

rID:

49120

Article created:

16 Nov 2016, Mohammed Al Khader.O.Thabet

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Mohammed Al Khader.O.Thabet had no recorded disclosures.

View Mohammed Al Khader.O.Thabet's current disclosures

Last revised:

5 Aug 2018, Owen Kang

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Owen Kang had no recorded disclosures.

View Owen Kang's current disclosures

Revisions:

8 times, by 6 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Gastrointestinal

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

cases, refs

The bird beak sign of the right colon is tapering obstruction of the inferior part of right colon seen on contrast enema or CT scan with rectal contrast indicating caecal volvulus.

This sign can help to differentiate caecal volvulus from caecal bascule, in particular on a contrast/barium enema study. A caecal bascule tends to appear as a rounded termination of the contrast/barium column with the caecum folded superiorly, anterior to the ascending colon, instead of a sharp beak-like termination in volvulus.

However, on CT a more specific sign for caecal volvulus is the whirl sign of twisted mesenteric vessels.