A Case of preoperatively diagnosed mucosal carcinoma of the terminal ileum successfully treated by laparoscopy‐assisted surgery

Abstract

We report herein a case of primary early ileal adenocarcinoma diagnosed definitively by colonoscopy before surgery and treated by laparoscopy‐assisted ileocecal resection. A 66‐year‐old man visited our hospital because of fecal occult blood. Colonoscopy revealed a relatively clearly demarcated, flat elevation in the terminal ileum; it was slightly red, surrounding a hemorrhagic spot, and had a small depression at its center. The lesion was diagnosed on biopsy as a well‐differentiated adenocarcinoma. Laparoscopy‐assisted ileocecal resection was performed. Macroscopically, the resected specimen appeared as a partially elevated, partially depressed, reddish lesion on Kerckring's fold. It was 1.5 × 1.0 cm and located 3.5 cm from the ileocecal valve. Microscopically, the tumor was diagnosed as a type IIa + IIc well‐differentiated adenocarcinoma; it was confined to the mucosa, and lymph node metastasis was not found. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and he is now alive, well and showing no evidence of recurrence 1 year after surgery. Early detection of ileal cancer depends on careful colonoscopic observation of the terminal ileum, where small bowel cancer usually locates, even during routine examination. To our knowledge, this is the first report of laparoscopic surgery for preoperatively diagnosed early ileal carcinoma.