Abdominal wall abscess--an unusual primary presentation of a transverse colonic carcinoma

Abstract

Summary:Carcinoma of the transverse colon presenting as an abscess of the anterior abdominal wail is a rare occurrence. Such a case is presented, where all investigations failed to show the nature of the lesion. The literature has been reviewed and the pathology that characterizes such lesions, and their management in the light of their favourable prognosis, is discussed. Occult colonic carcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of such abscesses.

Transverse Colonic Cancer Presenting as an Anterior Abdominal Wall Abscess: Report of a Case

“…7 Computed tomography scans have been reported to be useful for assessing patients with colorectal cancer and inflammatory disease of the abdominal wall. 3,8 In our patient, the CT scan revealed an anterior abdominal wall abscess and an intraperitoneal tumor, both of which were extremely large, as shown in Fig. 1.…”

“…For patients with colon cancer who present with an anterior abdominal wall abscess, en bloc excision of the full thickness of the anterior abdominal wall, including the abscess, should be performed if possible. 3,11,12 If this procedure is considered difficult because of the wide involvement with cancer or a large abscess, as in our patient, or if it is inadequate owing to distant metastasis and aggressive lymph node metastasis, palliative resection of the tumor is preferable to bypass surgery and should be attempted to improve the postoperative quality of life of the patient.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] The first case of transverse colonic cancer presenting as an anterior abdominal wall abscess was documented by Reprint requests to: G. Matsumoto Received: October 29, 1999 / Accepted: September 26, 2000 organisms identified by culture of this secretion were Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Neisseria.…”

Anterior Abdominal Wall Abscess: An unusual presentation of Carcinoma of the Colon

“…There can be either direct perforation into the peritoneal cavity or local perforation forming an abscess or istula. Rare presentations of perforated colorectal carcinomas are subcutaneous thigh abscess, retroperitoneal abscess, abdominal wall abscess, subcutaneous emphysema [5].…”

Anterior Abdominal Wall Abscess in a patient with Acute Suppurative Appendicitis

“…The first case in literature was reported by Gariepy and Kenley in 1945 in which a patient of acute suppurative appendicitis presented with anterior abdominal wall abscess subsequent rupture and fistula formation [1] . Actinomycosis, tuberculosis, amaebiosis and carcinoma of caecum are also known for formation of abscess in right iliac fossa but presentation of these diseases as anterior abdominal wall abscess is also rare [2][3] [4]. We present a case of acute suppurative appendicitis presenting as anterior abdominal wall abscess in right iliac fossa.…”