Small bowel tumors in emergency surgery

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic work-up, surgical therapy, and prognosis of 13 patients with small bowel tumor admitted for surgical procedures in an emergency setting. METHODS From 1996 to 2008, 13 consecutive surgical cases of small bowel tumors were treated at the Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, and Kütahya State Hospital, Department of General Surgery. Clinical and radiological charts of these patients were reviewed retrospectively from the department database. RESULTS Intestinal obstruction (7 cases) and perforation (5 cases) were the most common clinical presentations, followed by intussusception (1 case). Adenocarcinoma was the most frequent histologic type (4 cases), while small bowel sarcoma was seen in three cases and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in two cases. The remaining cases had carcinoid tumor, small bowel angioleiomyoma, Brunner's gland adenoma, and inflammatory pseudotumor of the small intestine. CONCLUSION Small bowel tumors are rare, the symptoms often non-specific, and the accuracy of different diagnostic tests remains to be improved. Timing and type of the intervention to the process and biological behavior of the pathological cells predict the prognosis.