Monday, February 14, 2011

Colon Cancer Presenting as Intussusception




This patient presented with several weeks of crampy abdominal pain and blood-tinged stools. The images above show intussusception of terminal ileum into the cecum. Intussusception (perennial spelling bee candidate, incidentally) occurs when the proximal bowel telescopes into the lumen of the more distal bowel, causing bowel congestion, obstruction, even ischemia. In adults, it's a red flag for cancer. In this case, it was a giant fungating goomba at the ileocecal valve acting as the lead point. Laparoscopic right colectomy = cure (stage II disease).