Abstract
We report a case of bleeding ileal varices associated with intraabdominal adhesions after colectomy which was successfully diagnosed using capsule endoscopy. A 77-year-old woman visited the emergency department for several episodes of melena. She had a medical history of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy and subsequent surgery for rectal cancer 6 years previously. Conventional diagnostic examinations including upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, and abdominal computed tomography could not detect any bleeding focus, however, following capsule endoscopy revealed venous dilatations with some fresh blood in the distal ileum, indicating bleeding ileal varices. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy and the affected ileum was successfully resected. No further gastrointestinal bleeding occurred during the 6 months follow-up. Small intestinal varices are important differential for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding especially in patients with a history of abdominal surgery in the absence of liver cirrhosis, and capsule endoscopy can be a good option for diagnosing small intestinal varices.
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![]() | Fig. 1.Colonoscopy showed dark blood retention in the entire colon, originating from oral side of the ileocecal valve. (A) Transverse colon. (B) Ileocecal valce. (C) Terminal ileum. |
![]() | Fig. 2.Capsule endoscopy showed bluish venous dilation with bloody intestinal fluids in the distal ileum. |
![]() | Fig. 3.Abdominal computed tomography revealed venous dilatation on the ileum (red arrows) adjacent to the uterus. |
![]() | Fig. 4.Histopathology findings. (A, B) Gross findings of the resected ileum showed a well-defined tortuous, engorged vascular structure (red arrows) on the serosal (A) and mucosal (B) surface. (C, D) On a microscopic examination, submucosa (C, H&E, ×40) and subserosa (D, H&E, ×40) showed irregularly dilated venous structures (red arrows). (E) Fibrous bands (star) around the dilated tortuous varices were observed on the subserosa (H&E, ×40). |