[Perforated tubular duplication of the sigmoid colon in adults]

Intestinal duplications are rare malformations and a diagnostic challenge. The case presented herein relates to a perforated tubular duplication of the sigmoid colon in a 23-year-old man with intermittent abdominal pain during 3 months and a bout of peritonitis which resolved spontaneously. This case is unusual since duplications generally spare adults, are seldom found in the colon, and do not perforate. The only cases of duplication which can be suspected preoperatively belong to the communicating type or those containing ectopic gastric mucosa. The intraoperative finding in this case of a malformative mesenteric cyst reminds us that duplications can be found in association with other intestinal, vertebral, or genitourinary tract malformations. In conclusion, intestinal duplications should be resected even when they are asymptomatic, as occasional cancerous transformation associated with a poor prognosis have been reported.