[Gastrocolic fistulas. Review of three cases]

Gastrocolic fistula (GCF) is a rare and severe lesion appearing traditionally as a complication of inadequate gastric surgery or in the context of stomach or colon malignancy, but actually arising from many different gastrointestinal conditions. Three patients with GCF, admitted and operated in our clinic, are presented. The first case, a man aged 36 years, was a classical one, with a G(jejuno)CF appearing three years after a gastrectomy with Reichel-Polya reconstruction for duodenal ulcer, resolved by a "revision gastrectomy" en block with segmental resection of the jejunum and transverse colon. The second case, also a man aged 43 years, presented a spontaneous GCF determined by a gastric carcinoma, that required an en block enlarged gastro-colectomy. The last case, a 61 year-old woman, presented three weeks after an emergency concomitant cholecystectomy and appendicectomy, with clinical manifestation suggesting a subphrenic abscess. Although a contrast-enhanced CT revealed a communication between the great curvature of the stomach and the splenic flexure of the colon, no fistula was found at laparotomy (spontaneous healing?). However, the terminal ileum and ascending colon had a suggestive appearance of Crohn's disease (confirmed by pathology) and a right colectomy was done. Excepting the rare situation of spontaneous or after medical treatment healing, the mainstay therapy of GCF is the case-adapted surgery.