A Case of Ischemic Stenosis of the Small Intestine Revealed by Double Balloon Enteroscopy and Resected by Laparoscopy-Assisted Surgery

Hayato Kan, Kiyonori Furukawa, Hideyuki Suzuki, Hiroyuki Tsuruta, Satoshi Matsumoto, Yukihiro Akiya, Seiichi Shinji, Akihisa Matsuda and Takashi Tajiri

Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School

We report a case of stenotic ischemic enteritis, found during double balloon enteroscopy (DBE), resected in laparoscopy-assisted surgery. A 61-year-old woman diagnosed with hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and phlebothrombosis with abdominal pain and diarrhea one month earlier had been hospitalized for acute enteritis. Three weeks later, symptoms subsided and she was discharged. A few days later, she was diagnosed with an intestinal obstruction and rehospitalized. Computed tomography (CT) showed a lesion with thickening of the intestinal wall in the lower abdomen and dilation on the oral side of the intestine. After decompression of the intestine by a long tube, we checked for a stricture lesion by intestinal radiography. The lesion was observed and a biopsy conducted by DBE. A histological study showed inflammatory cell infiltration suggesting ischemic enteritis. Surgery a few days later yielded a definitive diagnosis of ischemic enteritis based on histological examination of the resected specimen.

Key words
ischemic enteritis, laparoscopy-assisted surgery, double balloon enteroscopy

Reprint requests
Hayato Kan Department of Surgery, Nippon Medical School
1-1-5 Sendagi-cho, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8603 JAPAN

Accepted
January 31, 2007

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