Metastatic Small Intestinal Perforation from Carcinoma of the Lung: Report of a Case

Abstract

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death for both men and women. However, symptomatic gastrointestinal metastasis from the primary lung cancer is relatively unusual. Gastrointestinal perforation originating from metastatic lung cancer is even more uncommon. To our knowledge, approximately 100 cases of this entity have been reported in the literature. Herein, we present a 70-year-old male with long-term smoking history with symptoms and signs of acute abdominal pain. Tracing his medical history, he had unresectable undifferentiated large cell lung carcinoma in his upper left lobe that was proved 3 months prior to this admission. Peritonitis due to perforated hollow viscous was diagnosed and laparotomy revealed a perforated tumor at the ileum together with many other varied sized tumors disseminated in the small bowel which even caused luminal stenosis. Two segmental resections in the ileum with end-to-end anastomosis were performed separately. Pathological test results disclosed metastatic undifferentiated large cell carcinomas of lung cancer origin. The patient survived only 2 weeks after the operation of the cancer.