Rectosigmoid endometriosis as a diagnostic chameleon mimicking colorectal carcinoma

Shraddha Rakesh Singh, Vijay Dhondiraj Dombale, Rahul Yeshwant Sakpal, Amardeep Patil
In: Indian Journal of Case Reports · 2026 · vol. 12(5) , pp. 286–288 · doi:10.32677/ijcr.v12i5.8151 · W7163539685
article OA: diamond CC0
🔓 Open OA copy Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

A case of rectosigmoid endometriosis mimicking colorectal carcinoma highlights the diagnostic challenges posed by bowel endometriosis, which can present with imaging suspicious for malignancy but normal endoscopic findings and non-specific biopsies.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 · read from full text ⓘ

This case report describes a 38-year-old woman with abdominal distension, pain, vomiting, constipation, and weight/appetite loss, in whom imaging showed circumferential rectosigmoid wall thickening with luminal narrowing and radiologic features suspicious for distal colonic malignancy. Sigmoidoscopy revealed normal mucosa but the scope could not pass the narrowing, and mucosal biopsy showed chronic nonspecific colitis. Because malignancy remained a persistent radiologic concern, the patient underwent surgical resection, and histopathology identified endometrial glands and stroma infiltrating the rectosigmoid serosa, muscularis propria, and submucosa, confirming rectosigmoid endometriosis. As a single-patient report, it cannot establish diagnostic accuracy or generalizable imaging/endoscopic criteria. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — specifically rectosigmoid bowel endometriosis mimicking colorectal carcinoma and presenting as colorectal obstruction.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Bowel endometriosis is an uncommon manifestation of endometriosis that can clinically and radiologically mimic colorectal malignancy. Because the disease predominantly involves the deeper layers of the bowel wall with relative sparing of the mucosa, endoscopic findings may be normal, posing a significant diagnostic challenge. A 38-year-old woman presented with abdominal distension, epigastric pain, vomiting, constipation, and loss of appetite for 3 months. Radiological imaging revealed circumferential wall thickening at the rectosigmoid junction with luminal narrowing and features suggestive of distal colonic obstruction suspicious for malignancy. Sigmoidoscopy demonstrated normal mucosa with the inability to negotiate the scope beyond the narrowing. Mucosal biopsy revealed chronic non-specific colitis. Due to persistent radiological suspicion of malignancy, surgical resection was performed. Histopathological examination demonstrated endometrial glands and stroma infiltrating the serosa, muscularis propria, and submucosa of the rectosigmoid colon, confirming the diagnosis of rectosigmoid endometriosis. Rectosigmoid endometriosis may closely mimic colorectal carcinoma on imaging, while endoscopic findings remain non-specific. Awareness of this diagnostic pitfall is essential in reproductive-age women presenting with colorectal obstruction to prevent misdiagnosis and unnecessary radical treatment.
Full text 1,958 characters · extracted from oa-html · click to expand
Rectosigmoid endometriosis as a diagnostic chameleon mimicking colorectal carcinoma DOI: https://doi.org/10.32677/ijcr.v12i5.8151Keywords: Bowel endometriosis, Colorectal obstruction, Diagnostic mimic, Rectosigmoid endometriosis, Reproductive-age womenAbstract Bowel endometriosis is an uncommon manifestation of endometriosis that can clinically and radiologically mimic colorectal malignancy. Because the disease predominantly involves the deeper layers of the bowel wall with relative sparing of the mucosa, endoscopic findings may be normal, posing a significant diagnostic challenge. A 38-year-old woman presented with abdominal distension, epigastric pain, vomiting, constipation, and loss of appetite for 3 months. Radiological imaging revealed circumferential wall thickening at the rectosigmoid junction with luminal narrowing and features suggestive of distal colonic obstruction suspicious for malignancy. Sigmoidoscopy demonstrated normal mucosa with the inability to negotiate the scope beyond the narrowing. Mucosal biopsy revealed chronic non-specific colitis. Due to persistent radiological suspicion of malignancy, surgical resection was performed. Histopathological examination demonstrated endometrial glands and stroma infiltrating the serosa, muscularis propria, and submucosa of the rectosigmoid colon, confirming the diagnosis of rectosigmoid endometriosis. Rectosigmoid endometriosis may closely mimic colorectal carcinoma on imaging, while endoscopic findings remain non-specific. Awareness of this diagnostic pitfall is essential in reproductive-age women presenting with colorectal obstruction to prevent misdiagnosis and unnecessary radical treatment. Downloads Downloads Published Issue Section License Copyright (c) 2026 Shraddha Rakesh Singh, Vijay Dhondiraj Dombale, Rahul Yeshwant Sakpal, Amardeep Ajinath Patil This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

⚙ Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-html ⓘ

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Condition tags

endometriosisbowel_endometriosis

Citation neighborhood (no data yet)

We don't have any in-corpus citations linked to this paper yet. This is a recent paper (2026) — citers typically take a year or two to land, and the OpenAlex reference graph may still be filling in.

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-06T00:00:02.894732+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK