[Laparoscopic resection of a gastric giant cavernous hemangioma in a child]

Gastric hemangioma rarely appears during the pediatric age, with only thirteen cases in the medical literature. Its manifestations are digestive bleeding and intestinal obstruction. The bleeding can be severe and for such reasons it is usually necessary to apply surgical procedures. Up until now every case had been treated with resection and reconstruction through open surgery. We present the case of a patient treated successfully through a laparoscopic approach.

7 year old boy presenting hematemesis and hypovolemic shock, after stabilizing the patient a digestive endoscopy is performed revealing a hemangioma in the gastric fundus. Other injuries were discarded through a magnetic resonance angiography. Through a laparoscopic approach, with a postoperative endoscopic aiding procedure intending to discard affectation on the gastric esophageal junction, a resection with a harmonic scalpel on the lesion and a 2 plane gastric reconstruction was performed. The patient was discharged successfully on the fourth day after the surgery was performed with an 18 month clinical tracing and no further incidence.

Laparoscopic approaches allow a safe gastric hemangioma resection and stomach reconstruction, with a relatively short recovery period and the well known benefits of minimal invasion procedures.