Intestinal lipoma: a rare cause of lower gastrointestinal haemorrhage

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding from submucosal lipomas of the intestine is very rare. We report our experience with 3-patients presenting with lower gastrointestinal haemorrhage who were detected to have no cause other than intestinal lipomas. In two of these patients, the lipoma was in the small intestine and presented with chronic blood loss or recurrent episodes of bleeding. The third patient presented with massive haematochyzia and had a number of lipomas in the cecum and right colon. The diagnosis was established by laparotomy and intraoperative enteroscopy in 2 cases, and by colonoscopy and laparotomy in the third. Surgical excision of the lipoma led to cure in all the patients. We conclude that when laparotomy and intraoperative enteroscopy fail to show any cause for bleeding other than an innocuous-looking lipoma, it should be excised. The literature has been reviewed.