[Intestinal intussusception due to metastatic melanoma: a case report]

Although the gastrointestinal tract is a fairly frequent site of melanoma metastases, reports of small bowel intussusception caused by this condition are rare. The presence of intestinal metastases is an expression of what is already a disease at an advanced stage and, therefore, the prognosis of these patients is generally poor with only sporadic cases of long-term survival after resective surgery. We describe the case of a patient referred to our department with a clinical picture of frank occlusion. Ileo-ileal intussusception was diagnosed preoperatively thanks to ultrasound and abdominal CAT scans. The patient was unaware that he had a cutaneous melanoma and, moreover, the diagnosis of a metastasised melanoma was possible only after histological examination of the surgical specimen and the subsequent search for and identification of the primary lesion at the level of the dorsal skin. We performed an extensive ileal resection with an end-to-end entero-enteroanastomosis. Ten months after the operation the patient is still alive but in poor general condition due to the presence of diffuse liver metastases and ascites. We believe that radical resective surgery affords valid palliation for these patients, with disappearance of symptoms and minimal postoperative morbidity and mortality.