Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Apr 27, 2026; 18(4): 116972
Published online Apr 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i4.116972
Published online Apr 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i4.116972
Transverse colon foreign body-associated reactive mass mimicking gastrointestinal stromal tumors: A case report
Seung Ho Song, Seung Soo Lee, Department of Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu 41944, South Korea
Seung Ho Song, Seung Soo Lee, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41944, South Korea
Dong Ja Kim, Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41944, South Korea
Author contributions: Song SH and Lee SS were attending doctors for the patient; Song SH and Lee SS performed the surgery; Kim DJ performed the pathological examination; Song SH wrote the draft. All authors performed the literature review. All authors designed the report. All authors revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Biomedical Research Institute Grant, Kyungpook National University Hospital; No. 2025; and Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea, No. RS-2022-KH130590.
Informed consent statement: The patient provided written informed consent at the first postoperative outpatient visit for publication of all clinical details and images included in this case report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Corresponding author: Seung Soo Lee, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, 130 Dongdeok-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu 41944, South Korea.
Received: November 26, 2025
Revised: January 8, 2026
Accepted: January 26, 2026
Published online: April 27, 2026
Processing time: 150 Days and 2.5 Hours
Revised: January 8, 2026
Accepted: January 26, 2026
Published online: April 27, 2026
Processing time: 150 Days and 2.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: We report a rare case of a large foreign body-associated reactive mass presenting 20 years after surgery for perforated appendicitis. The lesion mimicked a gastrointestinal stromal tumor on contrast-enhanced computed tomography, leading to diagnostic uncertainty. Surgical resection and histopathological evaluation revealed a chronic foreign body-type inflammatory reaction, in which microscopic foreign materials were identified despite the absence of a grossly identifiable foreign body. This case illustrates a potential diagnostic pitfall and emphasizes the need to consider postoperative inflammatory and foreign body-associated lesions in the differential diagnosis of large intra-abdominal masses.