Published online Apr 14, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i14.1674
Peer-review started: November 11, 2019
First decision: January 17, 2020
Revised: March 10, 2020
Accepted: March 14, 2020
Article in press: March 14, 2020
Published online: April 14, 2020
Processing time: 115 Days and 10.1 Hours
Gastrointestinal hemangiomas are rare benign tumors. According to the size of the affected vessels, hemangiomas are histologically classified into cavernous, capillary, or mixed-type tumors, with the cavernous type being the most common and racemose hemangiomas being very rare in the clinic. Melena of uncertain origin and anemia are the main clinical manifestations, and other presentations are rare. Due to the rarity of gastrointestinal hemangiomas and lack of specific manifestations and diagnostic methods, preoperative diagnoses are often delayed or incorrect.
We report a 5-year-old girl who presented with abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting for a duration of 10 h. The laboratory studies showed prominent anemia. Computed tomography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a small bowel obstruction caused by a giant abdominal mass. Segmental resection of the ileal lesions was performed through surgery, and the final pathology results revealed a diagnosis of racemose hemangioma complicated by a small bowel obstruction and simultaneous chronic anemia.
The current report will increase the understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal hemangiomas and provide a review of the related literature.
Core tip: Gastrointestinal hemangiomas are rare benign tumors, and small bowel racemose hemangiomas complicated by obstructions and chronic anemia are even more rare clinically. Here, we report a 5-year-old girl who presented with abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting for a duration of 10 h. The preoperative examination revealed an acute obstruction and anemia. A segmental resection of the ileum was performed, and the final pathology revealed a small bowel racemose hemangioma complicated by an obstruction and simultaneous chronic anemia. To improve the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal hemangiomas, we present this unusual report and review some of the related literature.