[Crepitant abdominal cellulitis: a rare clinical presentation of sigmoid tumor]

Unusual infections associated with colorectal tumors may, in some instances, be the sole clue to presence of malignancy. The infections are either related to invasion of tissues or organs in close proximity to the tumor or secondary to distant seeding by transient bacteremia arising from necrotic tumors. The authors present one case of spontaneous crepitant cellulitis in the lower abdominal wall, associated with sigmoid tumor. The patient had abdominal pain in the left iliaca fossa, fever and skin necrosis of the lower abdominal wall in the last 4 hours. At surgery they performed debridement and excision of necrotic tissue (lower abdominal wall) and partial sigmoidectomy with sigmoid colostomy. The patient died 9 months after initial surgery. A study of tumor mass revealed an adenocarcinoma. The presence of crepitant cellulitis in a lower abdominal wall should result in a search for bowel perforation.