Case Report
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2007; 13(40): 5400-5402
Published online Oct 28, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i40.5400
Sigmoid colon endometriosis treated with laparoscopy-assisted sigmoidectomy: Significance of preoperative diagnosis
Motohira Yoshida, Yuji Watanabe, Atsushi Horiuchi, Yuji Yamamoto, Hiroki Sugishita, Kanji Kawachi
Motohira Yoshida, Yuji Watanabe, Atsushi Horiuchi, Yuji Yamamoto, Hiroki Sugishita, Kanji Kawachi, Department of Organ Regenerative Surgery, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Shitsukawa, Toon, Ehime 791-0295, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Motohira Yoshida, Ehime University, Shitsukawa, Toon, Ehime 791-0295, Japan. myoshida@m.ehime-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-89-9605331 Fax: +81-89-9605335
Received: July 10, 2007
Revised: August 14, 2007
Accepted: August 29, 2007
Published online: October 28, 2007
Abstract

We present a female patient with sigmoid colon endome-triosis who was diagnosed correctly preoperatively and underwent minimally invasive surgery. She was admitted to our hospital with rectal bleeding and constipation. We performed several workups. Colonoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography showed sigmoid colon stenosis caused by submucosal tumor, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a sigmoid colon tumor displaying signal hy-pointensity on both T1- and T2-weighted imaging. However, colonoscopic ultrasonography-assisted needle aspiration biopsy could not specify tumor characteristics. From these examinations, the lesion was diagnosed as sigmoid colon endometriosis and laparoscopy-assisted sigmoidectomy was performed. Pathological diagnosis from the resected specimen was identical to preoperative diagnosis, i.e., colonic endometriosis. Since differential diagnosis of intestinal endometriosis seems difficult, a cautious preoperative diagnosis is required to select treatments including minimally invasive surgery.

Keywords: Intestinal endometriosis; Preoperative diag-nosis; Laparoscopy-assisted surgery