Abstract
Submucosal lipomas of the large bowel are uncommon. Occasionally, they occur in the rectum and may cause aspecific symptoms; presentation with rectal prolapse is very unusual and may lead to a misdiagnosis of simple mucosal prolapse. The paper describes an additional case of a prolapsing rectal mass that led to diagnosis and surgical treatment of a rectal lipoma under local anesthesia.
Highlights
Submucosal lipomas of the large bowel are uncommon
A 80-year-old man presented with a recent onset of constipation, anal discomfort, and anal incontinence. He experienced a sensation of something passing through the anus at defecation, that he manually reinserted, accompanied by tenesmus and rectal bleeding, for which he had a diagnosis of “hemorrhoids”. These symptoms worsened in the following months, since the mass began to prolapse independently of defecation, became painful when standing or walking, made defecation obstructed, and caused anal incontinence, for which he was referred with a presumptive diagnosis of neoplasia
Lipomas of the large intestine are relatively uncommon in clinical practice, they are considered to be the benign tumours that occur most frequently, adenomas excluded, and the commonest nonepithelial tumours
Summary
Submucosal lipomas of the large bowel are uncommon. Occasionally, they occur in the rectum and may cause aspecific symptoms; presentation with rectal prolapse is very unusual and may lead to a misdiagnosis of simple mucosal prolapse. These symptoms worsened in the following months, since the mass began to prolapse independently of defecation, became painful when standing or walking, made defecation obstructed, and caused anal incontinence, for which he was referred with a presumptive diagnosis of neoplasia. Clinical signs are reported in a poor percentage of patients and are related to tumour location and size.
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