Abdominal crisis due to metastasizing lung carcinoma to the small bowel

A rare case of small-bowel perforation due to metastasizing primary bronchogenic carcinoma is reported. A 64-year-old man presented with acute abdominal crisis from perforation of a metastatic focus in the wall of the small intestine. A 13-cm segment of small bowel, containing a firm mass which surrounded a 1.0 X 2.0-cm perforation, was resected. Because of widespread metastases, the patient received only palliative treatment. He died 27 days after admission. Perforation of a metastatic focus in the small bowel is considered a late complication of carcinoma and indicates a very poor prognosis. This is only the eighth reported case of such a complication of metastasizing lung carcinoma.