[Lipoma of the small intestine. A clinical case]

The paper reports a case of a 45-year-old female with long-standing anemia, recurrent abdominal pain and subocclusive crises. Following a negative endoscopy of the upper tract of the large intestine, barium enema and angiography, the patient underwent total colonoscopy. Massive bleeding from the ileal valve suggested an ileal pathology: a small intestine enema confirmed a polypoid proliferation 60 cm above the Bahuino valve with related ileal invagination 25 cm long. The patient underwent surgery and pathological findings revealed a 7 cm-wide ileal lipoma near a small angiodysplasia. The latter seemed to be the cause of bleeding. The diagnosis of small intestine tumours is made difficult by the fact that the only important signs are abdominal pain, intestinal bleeding and subocclusive crises, which are common symptoms in many pathologies. The authors stress the importance of a thorough endoscopic examination and selective angiography.