Case Report
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2007; 13(20): 2889-2891
Published online May 28, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i20.2889
Successful endoscopic repair of an unusual colonic perforation following polypectomy using an endoclip device
Francesco Barbagallo, Giorgio Castello, Saverio Latteri, Emanuele Grasso, Salvatrice Gagliardo, Gaetano La Greca, Michele Di Blasi
Francesco Barbagallo, Giorgio Castello, Saverio Latteri, Emanuele Grasso, Salvatrice Gagliardo, Gaetano La Greca, Department of Surgical Sciences, Transplantation and Advanced Technologies, University of Catania, Padiglione 29, Policlinico Universitario, Via S. Sofia, Catania 95100, Italy
Michele Di Blasi, Digestive Endoscopic Unit, University of Catania, P.O. Cannizzaro, Via Messina 829, Catania 95126, Italy
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Gaetano La Greca, MD, PhD, Department of Surgical Sciences, Transplantation and Advanced Technologies, University of Catania, Via Messina 354 95126 Catania, Italy. glagreca@unict.it
Telephone: +39-95-7223914 Fax: +39-95-7122221
Received: February 9, 2007
Revised: March 3, 2007
Accepted: March 8, 2007
Published online: May 28, 2007
Abstract

Colonic perforation during endoscopic diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, represents an uncommon occurrence even if, together with haemorrhage, it is still the most common complication of colonoscopy, with an incidence ranging between 0.1% and 2% of all colonoscopic procedures. The ideal treatment in these cases remains elusive as the endoscopist and the surgeon have to make a choice case by case, depending on many factors such as how promptly the rupture is identified, the condition of the patient, the degree of contamination and the evidence of peritoneal irritation. Surgical interventions both laparotomic and laparoscopic, and other medical non-operative solutions are described in the literature. Only three cases have been reported in the literature in which the endoscopic apposition of endoclips was used to repair a colonic perforation during colonoscopy. Ours is the first case that the perforation itself was caused by the improper functioning of a therapeutic device.

Keywords: Polypectomy; Colonic perforation; Endoscopic device; Pneumoperitoneum