Lipoma of small intestine presenting as intussusception: common lesion at uncommon site- A case report

Abstract

Gastrointestinal tract is uncommon location for lipomas. If present, 90% are seen submucosally and 10% in subserosal location. Mostly located in the colon, but they can be found in the esophagus, small intestine, and rarely in the stomach. The vast majority of cases with intestinal lipomatosis are usually asymptomatic and some of the cases present with intermittent obstruction, colonic perforation and rarely intussusception. A 20 year male presented in emergency department with history pain in abdomen 15 days back, progressively increasing in intensity and no passage of stool from 4 days. On the basis of history, examination and computed tomography scan of abdomen, possible diagnosis of ileoileal intussusception was made. Patient was admitted in emergency department of surgery and planned for surgery and exploratory laparotomy with resection of ileum 5 cm on both sides was done. A growth was seen in ileal intussusceptum area within 5cm margin and sent for histopathological examination to the department of pathology. On histopathologic examination, a diagnosis of lipoma was made. Lipomas are benign tumours with no risk of recurrence. They should always be kept in the differential diagnosis of sessile polypoid lesions. Surgery is usually curative.