Case Report
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 7, 2008; 14(21): 3430-3434
Published online Jun 7, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.3430
Acute small bowel obstruction caused by endometriosis: A case report and review of the literature
Antonella De Ceglie, Claudio Bilardi, Sabrina Blanchi, Massimo Picasso, Marcello Di Muzio, Alberto Trimarchi, Massimo Conio
Antonella De Ceglie, Department of Gastroenterology, Giovanni Paolo II, Cancer Institute, Bari 70126, Italy
Claudio Bilardi, Sabrina Blanchi, Massimo Picasso, Massimo Conio, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital, Sanremo 18038, Italy
Marcello Di Muzio, Department of Pathology, General Hospital, Sanremo 18038, Italy
Alberto Trimarchi, Department of Surgery, General Hospital, Sanremo 18038, Italy
Author contributions: De Ceglie A and Conio M contributed equally to this work; Bilardi C, Picasso M, Di Muzio M and Trimarchi A reported the case; De Ceglie A and Blanchi S researched bibliography; De Ceglie A, Bilardi C and Conio M wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Massimo Conio, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital, C.so Garibaldi 187/3, Sanremo 18038, Italy. mxconio@tin.it
Telephone: +39-184-578986
Fax: +39-184-500846
Received: March 1, 2008
Revised: May 4, 2008
Accepted: May 11, 2008
Published online: June 7, 2008
Abstract

Gastrointestinal involvement of endometriosis has been found in 3%-37% of menstruating women and exclusive localization on the ileum is very rare (1%-7%). Endometriosis of the distal ileum is an infrequent cause of intestinal obstruction, ranging from 7% to 23% of all cases with intestinal involvement. We report a case in which endometrial infiltration of the small bowel caused acute obstruction requiring emergency surgery, in a woman whose symptoms were not related to menses. Histology of the resected specimen showed that endometriosis was mainly prevalent in the muscularis propria and submucosa and that the mucosa was not ulcerated but had inflammation and glandular alteration. Endometrial lymph node involvement, with a cystic glandular pattern was also detected.

Keywords: Endometriosis; Small bowel; Ileum; Obstruction; Abdominal pain; Intestinal resection