Published online Dec 15, 2018. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v10.i12.516
Peer-review started: September 18, 2018
First decision: October 15, 2018
Revised: October 24, 2018
Accepted: November 7, 2018
Article in press: November 7, 2018
Published online: December 15, 2018
Processing time: 87 Days and 9.4 Hours
Hemangioma of the small intestine is a rare vascular malformation. Before the advent of capsule endoscopy (CE) and balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE), preoperative diagnosis of this disease was extremely difficult.
In this study, we report a 24-year-old female with a large transmural small bowel cavernous hemangioma, which was diagnosed with CE and BAE preoperatively and removed successfully using minimally invasive surgery. Meanwhile, we perform a literature review of the studies about intestinal hemangiomas published after 2000. Literature review revealed that 91.9% of the lesions were diagnosed preoperatively by CE and/or BAE and 45.9% of them were treated endoscopically, which is a marked improvement compared to before 2000. Therefore, CE and BAE are useful modalities for the preoperative diagnosis of hemangiomas in the small intestine.
Endoscopic treatment of intestinal hemangioma is generally prudent and might be suitable for multiple, relatively small lesions.
Core tip: Hemangioma of the small intestine is a rare disease and mostly presents as gastrointestinal bleeding. With the advent of capsule endoscopy and balloon-assisted enteroscopy, the preoperative diagnosis of this disease has been considerably improved. Surgical resection is the conventional treatment modality. With the improvement of endoscopic therapeutic interventions, less invasive procedures are becoming possible. However, potential risks of endoscopic treatment include bleeding and intestinal perforation. Since intestinal hemangiomas originate from the submucosal layer and some of them are transmural, endoscopic treatment might sometimes result in uncontrolled bleeding or perforation.