Exceptional cause of bowel obstruction: rectal endometriosis mimicking carcinoma of Rectum - a case report

Sélim Sassi, Mahdi Bouassida, Hassen Touinsi, Mohamed Mongi Mighri, Sonia Baccari, Fathi Chebbi, Khaled Bouzeidi, Sadok Sassi
In: The Pan African Medical Journal, Vol 10, Iss 33 (2011) · 2011 · doi:10.11604/pamj.2011.10.33.1027 · W4381488794
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This case report describes a 35-year-old woman whose bowel obstruction was caused by rectal endometriosis that mimicked rectal carcinoma on clinical and radiological examination.

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This paper is a 2011 case report describing a 35-year-old woman who presented with bowel obstruction caused by rectal endometriosis. Despite the patient’s symptoms and imaging/colonoscopy findings being suggestive of rectal carcinoma, surgical intervention (anterior resection with right salpingectomy) was performed, and histopathology ultimately established bowel endometriosis as the diagnosis. The authors highlight a key limitation that endometriosis lacks pathognomonic signs, making accurate pre- and intra-operative diagnosis difficult and leading to neoplasm as the main differential. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — specifically rectal endometriosis presenting as bowel obstruction and mimicking rectal carcinoma.

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Abstract

Endometriosis with intestinal serosal involvement is not uncommon in women of childbearing age. However, endometriosis presenting as colon obstruction is rare and occurs in less than 1% of cases. The Lack of pathognomonic signs makes the diagnosis difficult, mostly because the main differential diagnosis is with neoplasm, even during the intervention. Reported here is a case of a 35-year �old woman presenting with bowel obstruction due to rectal endometriosis. The patient presented signs and symptoms of bowel obstruction. Colonoscopy and radiological findings were suggestive of rectal carcinoma. Surgeons performed an anterior resection with right salpingectomy. Histopathology diagnosed bowel endometriosis. This case demonstrates the difficulty of establishing an accurate pre- and intra- operative diagnosis and the ability of intestinal endometriosis to mimic colon cancer.
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The Pan African Medical Journal (Nov 2011) Exceptional cause of bowel obstruction: rectal endometriosis mimicking carcinoma of Rectum - a case report Abstract Endometriosis with intestinal serosal involvement is not uncommon in women of childbearing age. However, endometriosis presenting as colon obstruction is rare and occurs in less than 1% of cases. The Lack of pathognomonic signs makes the diagnosis difficult, mostly because the main differential diagnosis is with neoplasm, even during the intervention. Reported here is a case of a 35-year �old woman presenting with bowel obstruction due to rectal endometriosis. The patient presented signs and symptoms of bowel obstruction. Colonoscopy and radiological findings were suggestive of rectal carcinoma. Surgeons performed an anterior resection with right salpingectomy. Histopathology diagnosed bowel endometriosis. This case demonstrates the difficulty of establishing an accurate pre- and intra- operative diagnosis and the ability of intestinal endometriosis to mimic colon cancer. Keywords

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endometriosisbowel_endometriosis

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last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
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