The whirlpool sign is a sonographic finding caused by twisting of bowel and mesenteric vessel branches. This creates an image of swirling strands with soft tissue attenuation with background attenuation in fat, giving the appearance of a hurricane on a weather map ¹. The abrupt termination of dilated duodenum in the swirl region is highly suggestive of volvulus ¹.

Midgut volvulus is the most common site for intestinal volvulus, accounting for 10% of intestinal and 11% of strangulating obstructions ², occurring early in life or in adults ³. Midgut volvulus is usually associated with malrotation of gut.